Patents Examined by Shelley Chen
  • Patent number: 11390291
    Abstract: A method for the assisted, partially automated, highly automated, fully automated or driverless driving of a motorized transportation vehicle including at least one control unit for planning the navigation and trajectory of an assisted, partially automated, highly automated, fully automated or driverless journey of the motorized transportation vehicle and multiple subsystems, wherein the subsystems implement transportation vehicle movement dynamics requirements of the control unit or supply environmental data, wherein at least one subsystem is assigned a monitoring function by which the functionality of the subsystem is determined, wherein the monitoring function transmits a currently possible performance capability to the control unit which adapts the planning of the navigation and trajectory in accordance with the transmitted performance capability so that, despite a reduced performance capability, the assisted, partially automated, highly automated, fully automated or driverless journey can be continued.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Inventors: Malte Rothhämel, Bastian Witte, Bernd Oldemeyer, Lars Wülbeck, Oliver Wulf, Robert Otremba
  • Patent number: 11383719
    Abstract: Systems and techniques for vehicle control include controlling a vehicle by associating a seat a passenger in the vehicle is sitting in with the passenger's service use information. The service use information generated after the passenger sits in the first seat may be stored in a first memory corresponding to the first seat. Upon detecting that the passenger has left the first seat and is sitting in a second seat, the service use information may be moved to a second memory corresponding to the second seat. The service use information includes information in the first memory until the passenger leaves the first seat after sitting in the first seat. One or more of an autonomous vehicle according to the present invention, a user terminal, and a server may be associated with artificial intelligence, a robot, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), etc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventors: Kyoungha Lee, Inyoung Hwang, Kangmin Kim, Sungil Cho
  • Patent number: 11378982
    Abstract: A system for landing a mobile platform, such as an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (“UAV”) and methods for making and using the same. The system can land the UAV by applying a magnetic levitation force upon the UAV and adjusting the applied magnetic levitation force. The system can initiate a landing process to a designated docking station and can guide the UAV to an adjacency of the designated docking station. Once the UAV has entered the adjacency, the magnetic levitation forces can take control of the landing process. During the landing process, certain magnetic sensitive devices installed on the UAV and/or on the designated docking station can be protected by turning them off or by shielding them. The system overcomes disadvantages of currently-available landing systems by restricting a size and weight of the landing arrangements, as well as, avoiding potential damage to the UAV and the designated docking station.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: SZ DJI TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Mingxi Wang
  • Patent number: 11370385
    Abstract: There is provided a method to stop or slow down a vehicle in an emergency, the method involving a vehicle comprising an emergency stop system which is able to cause the vehicle to stop or slow down, said emergency stop system comprising at least one microphone for detecting sounds in the vicinity of the vehicle, and a sound analysis unit for analysing sound, the method involving the steps: a) the microphone of the emergency stop system receiving a sound and sending a signal representing the sound to the sound analysis unit, b) the sound analysis unit of the emergency stop system determining that the received sound is a predetermined sound or a predetermined sound pattern, and c) the emergency stop system causing the vehicle to stop or slow down.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Inventors: Elodie Abiakle Kai, Wissam Kai
  • Patent number: 11358718
    Abstract: Disclosed is a low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle surveillance system. According to an embodiment, monitoring is performed using a balloon main body filled with gas and staying in the air; radar; camera units being provided outside the balloon main body, and including a camera taking an image of a subject; radio frequency detectors; and sound detectors and correspondingly, interceptor means is included. As interceptor means, a jammer, a jamming gun, and a spoofing device corresponding to jamming are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2022
    Inventor: Sung Wook Yoon
  • Patent number: 11352017
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for dynamically protecting transportable articles in vehicles. A system for dynamically protecting a transportable article in a vehicle may include one or more processors and non-volatile memory storing instructions. The instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to access sensed data representative of at least one of a characteristic or a trait of a transportable article in a vehicle, determine based on the data the at least one of the characteristic or the trait of the transportable article, select one or more article protection components based on the determined at least one of the characteristic or the trait of the transportable article, and deploy the selected one or more article protection components to protect the transportable article.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Scott T. Christensen, Brian M. Fields, Stephen R. Prevatt, Steve Roberson
  • Patent number: 11351975
    Abstract: A vehicle includes an engine, an electric machine, a battery, and at least one controller. The vehicle may further comprise a port for supplying power to a load external to the vehicle. The controller is programmed to operate the engine at a power level based on a difference between a battery voltage and a reference voltage such that a power output by the electric machine reduces the difference. The power level may define an engine operating point that minimizes fuel consumption. The operating point may be an engine torque and an engine speed. The power level may be further based on a state of charge of the battery. The electric machine may be operated to cause the engine to rotate at an engine speed corresponding to the selected power level. The difference may be caused by varying power drawn by a load external to the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Wei Liang, Mark Steven Yamazaki, Xiaoyong Wang, Rajit Johri, Ryan Abraham McGee, Ming Lang Kuang
  • Patent number: 11347244
    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: February 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: Skydio, Inc.
    Inventors: Ryan David Kennedy, Peter Benjamin Henry, Hayk Martirosyan, Jack Louis Zhu, Abraham Galton Bachrach, Adam Parker Bry
  • Patent number: 11345358
    Abstract: An engine electronic control unit (ECU) for a vehicle includes a non-volatile memory and a microcontroller. The non-volatile memory is configured to store an indicator of ignition status having an initial off-status. The microcontroller is coupled to the non-volatile memory and is configured to receive a SOC of a battery for the engine ECU. The microcontroller is further configured to determine the SOC is insufficient to power-up the engine ECU following a reset condition. The microcontroller is further configured to disable over-writing the indicator of ignition status in response to determining the SOC is insufficient.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Blake James Dansfield, Yasumasa Kaitani, Hideaki Yamashita
  • Patent number: 11340091
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and apparatuses are provided for storing and accessing traffic data images in a limited bandwidth environment. A traffic map image database is stored in a navigation device, where the database includes a plurality of traffic map images. A traffic condition is determined for a location of the navigation device. A traffic map image is retrieved from the database using a processor, where the traffic map image reflects the traffic condition for the location of the navigation device. The traffic map image is displayed on the navigation device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: HERE Global B.V.
    Inventors: Sunil Kumar Chintakindi, Andrew Calkins, Joy Hoeffler, Pedro Alvarez-Tabio Togores
  • Patent number: 11317557
    Abstract: An automatic steering system for a work vehicle includes: a steering travel apparatus for performing leftward turning based on a leftward steering amount with respect to a straight-forward direction and performing rightward turning based on a rightward steering amount with respect to a neutral position; a subject vehicle location calculator for calculating a location of a subject vehicle; a locational shifting calculator for calculating locational shifting from the travel route and the location of the subject vehicle; a vehicle body direction calculator for calculating a vehicle body direction that indicates a direction of a vehicle body; a directional shifting calculator for calculating directional shifting from the travel route and the vehicle body direction; a steering amount calculator for calculating a first steering amount, which is a steering amount for correcting the locational shifting and the directional shifting, based on the locational shifting and the directional shifting; and a steering amount l
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: Kubota Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuo Sakaguchi, Tomohiko Sano, Osamu Yoshida, Satoshi Maruo, Takashi Nakabayashi, Tetsuya Nakajima
  • Patent number: 11317556
    Abstract: A steering system for controlling an agricultural machine having a pair of front and rear wheels includes a controller and a steer input sensor for detecting a change in an operator steer input corresponding to a steer command. The system includes a displacement input for communicating a motor displacement associated with an operating mode. A primary differential steering system includes a drive motor for operably controlling the pair of front wheels and a secondary steering system controls the pair of rear wheels. The controller determines if the motor displacement is being controlled according to a first motor displacement or a second motor displacement, and outputs a control signal to actuate first and second actuators as a function of the steer command. The control signal includes a rear steering gain that is a function of machine speed and either the first motor displacement or the second motor displacement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: DEERE & COMPANY
    Inventors: Austin J. Karst, Jason J. Wanner
  • Patent number: 11307587
    Abstract: The disclosure provides a method for operating an autonomous vehicle. To operate the autonomous vehicle, a plurality of lane segments that are in an environment of the autonomous vehicle is determined and a first object and a second object in the environment are detected. A first position for the first object is determined in relation to the plurality of lane segments, and particular lane segments that are occluded by the first object are determined using the first position. According to the occluded lane segments, a reaction time is determined for the second object and a driving instruction for the autonomous vehicle is determined according to the reaction time. The autonomous vehicle is then operated based on the driving instruction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2022
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Jared Stephen Russell, Jens-Steffen Ralf Gutmann
  • Patent number: 11304057
    Abstract: Disclosed in some examples are methods, systems, and machine readable mediums which provide for controlled access of vehicle information by trusted authority systems. These systems may allow for police and other authority figures to utilize the onboard systems of the vehicle or obtain other information about the vehicle and occupants while safely in their own vehicles prior to an initial encounter with the vehicle and occupants.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2022
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Kay-Ulrich Scholl, Fabio Cesari
  • Patent number: 11299172
    Abstract: An automotive autonomous driving system comprising automotive on-board systems comprising a propulsion system, a braking system, a steering system, and a sensory system, an automotive user interface, and an automotive electronic control unit connected to, via an automotive on-board communications network, and configured to cooperate with, the automotive on-board systems and the automotive user interface to provide an automotive autonomous driving system. The automotive electronic control unit is further configured to store and populate a database of recurrent low speed manoeuvres and cause recurrent low speed manoeuvres stored in the database of recurrent low speed manoeuvres to be repeated in autonomous driving mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2022
    Assignee: C.R.F. SOCIETA' CONSORTILE PER AZIONI
    Inventors: Silvano Marenco, Stefano Mangosio, Massimo Fossanetti, Andrea Saroldi
  • Patent number: 11300953
    Abstract: A remote control apparatus uses wireless communication to control driving of a control object such as a vehicle. When the drive condition is changing, as when the vehicle is being steered to follow a curve in a travel route, while also the vehicle speed exceeds a specified threshold value, processing is executed for reducing a communication delay between the remote control apparatus and the control object, to thereby ensure sufficient speed of control response.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2022
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hidenori Akita, Takuma Kyo
  • Patent number: 11287817
    Abstract: A system and method are arranged to provide recommendations to a user of a vehicle. In one aspect, the vehicle navigates in an autonomous mode and the sensors provide information that is based on the location of the vehicle and output from sensors directed to the environment surrounding the vehicle. In further aspects, both current and previous sensor data is used to make the recommendations, as well as data based on the sensors of other vehicles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Christopher Paul Urmson, Dmitri A. Dolgov, Andrew Hughes Chatham, Philip Nemec
  • Patent number: 11280632
    Abstract: A method for reproducing a map display depending on a driving situation, a device for reproducing a map display depending on a driving situation, and a transportation vehicle having a corresponding device. The method includes detecting one or more driving situation-dependent parameters, wherein at least one driving situation-dependent parameter is based on the geographical position; setting one or more display properties of the map display depending on the one or more detected driving situation-dependent parameters; and reproducing the set map display using a display device. This allows a map display adequate for a situation to be provided to a transportation vehicle operator, the map display clearly and intelligibly reproducing the information relevant to the present driving situation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Inventors: Tobias Pögel, Gabriel Schwab, Benjamin Gross
  • Patent number: 11242040
    Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure provide for generation of trajectories for a vehicle driving in an autonomous driving mode. For instance, information identifying a plurality of objects in the vehicle's environment and a confidence value for each of the objects is received. A set of constraints may be generated. That one or more processors are unable to solve for a trajectory given the set of constraints and an acceptable braking limit may be determined. A first constraint is identified as a constraint for which could not be solved and a first confidence value. That the vehicle should apply a maximum braking level is determined based on the identified first confidence value, a threshold, and the determination that the one or more processors are unable to solve for a trajectory. Based on the determination that the vehicle should apply the maximum braking level, the maximum braking level is applied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Shiying Zhou, Jens-Steffen Ralf Gutmann
  • Patent number: 11234356
    Abstract: Provided are a work region setting portion which sets, within a traveling region, a work region for a working vehicle to perform predetermined work; and a traveling route setting portion which sets, within the traveling region, a target traveling route to make the working vehicle travel automatically. The traveling route setting portion includes: an initial route generation portion which generates an initial route based on a trajectory formed by the working vehicle traveling in the traveling region; a work route generation portion which generates work routes arranged in a parallel arrangement direction orthogonal to an extension direction; and a connection route generation portion which generates connection routes connecting, at either side of the work region, routes adjacent in the parallel arrangement direction among the initial route and the work routes. The target traveling route including the initial route, the work routes, and the connection routes is thereby set.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: Yanmar Power Technology Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yasuto Nishii