Patents Examined by Stephen Holwerda
  • Patent number: 10643473
    Abstract: A vehicle for collision avoidance assistance may include: a camera to obtain an image of an object behind the vehicle, and obtain coordinates of a feature point spaced apart from the object, a controller, and a notification unit to output a collision warning. In particular, the controller sets an estimated value of a vector indicating a state of the vehicle based on coordinates of the vehicle, coordinates of the object, and the coordinates of the feature point, determine a predicted value of the estimated value of the vector based on a result of differentiating the estimated value of the vector with respect to time, correct the predicted value, determine the estimated value of the vector, and calculate a distance between the camera and the object to transmit a collision warning signal to the notification unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2020
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Junho Yang, DongHun Yang
  • Patent number: 10639974
    Abstract: A system is provided for gaining access to a sunroof of a vehicle, in particular a car, including a sunroof control unit (19) and a sunroof actuation switch (27), in particular, for actuation of opening and/or closing and/or tilting of a sunroof. The sunroof actuation switch has one switch contact (28) or a plurality of switch contacts, wherein the sunroof control unit (19) and the sunroof actuation switch (27) are re-configured to communicate data, such as programming and/or reprogramming data and/or parameter setting data and/or diagnostic data, from and/or to the sunroof control unit (19) through the one switch contact (28) or at least one of the plurality of switch contacts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2020
    Assignee: Webasto SE
    Inventors: Phillip Iott, Scott Adams
  • Patent number: 10632623
    Abstract: A robot apparatus and a method for expressing emotions thereof, the method including determining motor movement information to drive a motor according to the emotional state to be expressed by the electronic device, determining the display position of the image object on the display according to the movement information of the motor, controlling an operation to drive the at least one motor according to the movement information of the motor, and changing the position of the image object displayed on the display in response to the movement of the electronic device driven by the at least one motor based on the determined display position information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2020
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd
    Inventor: Jaekyu Shim
  • Patent number: 10632616
    Abstract: Example implementations may relate a robot part including a processor, at least one sensor, and an interface providing wireless connectivity. The processor may determine that the robot part is removablly connected to a particular robotic system and may responsively obtain identification information to identify the particular robotic system. While the robot part is removablly connected to the particular robotic system, the processor may (i) transmit, to an external computing system, sensor data that the processor received from the at least one sensor and (ii) receive, from the external computing system, environment information (e.g., representing characteristics of an environment in which the particular robotic system is operating) based on interpretation of the sensor data. And based on the identification information and the environment information, the processor may generate a command that causes the particular robotic system to carry out a task in the environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2020
    Assignee: Boston Dymanics, Inc.
    Inventors: John Aaron Saunders, Michael Patrick Murphy
  • Patent number: 10611028
    Abstract: A robot, a map building method and a storage medium are provided. The map building method includes building an initial map according to a scene image captured by a robot in real time when the robot traverses a work area. The initial map includes a first map including a mapping of the work area and a map coordinate system, and a second map including a scene feature extracted based on the scene image, a geometric quantity of the scene feature and the scene image, which are stored in association with the pose of the robot in a scene database when capturing the scene image, the pose including a coordinate and an orientation of the robot, and the scene feature including a feature of a feature object in the scene and/or a feature of the scene image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignee: NEXTVPU (SHANGHAI) CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Ji Zhou, Xinpeng Feng
  • Patent number: 10607492
    Abstract: Crowdsourced servicing of on-demand electric-vehicles is disclosed. In various embodiments, data representing one or more of a location and a replenishment-related attribute value of at least a subset of electric vehicles comprising a fleet of electric vehicles made available for use on demand is received via a communication interface. A determination is made based at least in part on the respective replenishment-related attribute value of electric vehicles included in the at least a subset a set of electric vehicles required to be replenished. A display indicating for each of at least a subset of electrical vehicles required to be replenished a location of the vehicle and a price offered to retrieve, replenish, and redeploy the vehicle is provided via the communication interface to each of a plurality of users.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2020
    Assignee: Bird Rides, Inc.
    Inventors: Travis VanderZanden, William Scott Rushforth, Justin Balthrop
  • Patent number: 10597010
    Abstract: A method for operating a driver assistance device for a motor vehicle. A drive potential is respectively determined from all driven wheels of at least one axis of the motor vehicle. The drive potentials are compared and a braking device with a specific wheel braking force is controlled for braking the wheel having a lower drive potential.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: AUDI AG
    Inventor: Nikolaus Reim
  • Patent number: 10589422
    Abstract: Provided is an article conveying apparatus including a three-dimensional sensor that measures a three-dimensional shape of an article; an adhering portion that is made to adhere to a surface of the article; a moving mechanism that moves a position of the adhering portion in a three-dimensional manner; and a control unit that controls the moving mechanism. The control unit is provided with a center-of-gravity calculating portion that calculates a center of gravity of the article on the basis of the three-dimensional shape of the article measured by the three-dimensional sensor and controls the moving mechanism so as to place the adhering portion in the vicinity of the center of gravity calculated by the center-of-gravity calculating portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2020
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Masafumi Ooba
  • Patent number: 10583843
    Abstract: A travel control apparatus includes: an abnormality information acquisition section that acquires information indicating that an abnormality of a driver of a vehicle is detected; a status determination section that makes a determination that the driver is in a driving difficulty state, when the abnormality of the driver is detected continuously; and an evacuation control section that initiates an automatic evacuation control stopping automatically the vehicle when the status determination section makes a determination that the driver is in the driving difficulty state. The travel control apparatus further includes an assistance control section that initiates a driving assistance control during an interval from when the abnormality is detected to when the driving difficulty state is determined; the driving assistance control includes at least activating a lane departure prevention function of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2020
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mitsuo Tamagaki, Hiroaki Tanaka, Ifushi Shimonomoto, Akira Kamiya, Takuya Mori, Yuki Fujisawa, Ayako Kotani
  • Patent number: 10579045
    Abstract: A manual robot control by which a reference point of the robot is moved continually in space or positioned on an adjacent snap point depending on the control input.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2020
    Assignee: ABB gomtec GmbH
    Inventors: Bernd Gombert, Felix Schreiber
  • Patent number: 10556306
    Abstract: A robot system including a plurality of robots that are arranged at intervals and that each perform machining on a work; and a tool storage unit that stores a tool used when each of the robots performs machining on the work and that is disposed at a position allowing at least one of the robot to take out the tool, wherein the respective robots are provided with hands with which the tool stored in the tool storage unit can be handled; and, when one of the robots needs to exchange the tool.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2020
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Akiyama, Yoshitake Furuya
  • Patent number: 10557714
    Abstract: The present invention combines the geographical coverage possible with fixed, pre-defined route segment costs (e.g. the legal speed limit) with, wherever possible, richer time dependent costs. A user of, for example, a portable navigation device, can therefore continue route planning as before to virtually any destination in a country covered by the stored map database, but wherever possible, can also use traffic data with time-dependent costs, so that the effect of congestion with any time predictability can be accurately taken into account as an automatic, background process. It leaves the user to simply carry on driving, following the guidance offered by the navigation device, without needing to be concerned about congestion that exists now, and whether it will impact his journey.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2020
    Assignee: TOMTOM TRAFFIC B.V.
    Inventors: Thomas Bruce Watson Adam, Ian Malcolm Atkinson, Michael Joseph Dixon
  • Patent number: 10548681
    Abstract: A surgical robot system for stereotactic surgery, according to the present disclosure, may include: a stereotactic surgery unit to move and rotate a surgical instrument; a controller to receive the first imaging data that represents a three-dimensional image of a surgical portion that includes a surgical target; one or more markers to be attached to, or disposed near, the surgical portion; an imaging unit to create the second imaging data that represents a three-dimensional external image of the surgical portion; and a tracking unit to track the positions and postures of the imaging unit and the markers. The controller may create the coordinate conversion relationships for converting a coordinate from the first coordinate system of the first imaging data into the fourth coordinate system of the stereotactic surgery unit and control the stereotactic surgery unit by using the coordinate conversion relationships above.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2020
    Assignee: KOH YOUNG TECHNOLOGY INC.
    Inventors: Eun Hyoung Seong, Young Sik Kwon, Jae Heon Chung
  • Patent number: 10526013
    Abstract: A parking assist apparatus includes: a distance obtaining portion that obtains a movement distance from a current position of a vehicle to a parking target position; a vehicle speed calculating portion that calculates a target vehicle speed with a lapse of time until the vehicle reaches the parking target position, based on the movement distance, and a vehicle speed and acceleration and deceleration which are set in advance; a position calculating portion that calculates a movement target position of the vehicle in accordance with the time until the vehicle reaches the parking target position, based on the target vehicle speed with the lapse of time; and a controller that controls a vehicle running state such that the vehicle is moved to the movement target position at the target vehicle speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2020
    Assignee: AISIN SEIKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuichi Mizutani, Tetsuya Ohira
  • Patent number: 10512509
    Abstract: Systems and methods for establishing and tracking virtual boundaries. The virtual boundaries can delineate zones in which an instrument is not permitted during a surgical procedure. The virtual boundaries can also delineate zones in which the surgical instrument is permitted during the surgical procedure. The virtual boundaries can also identify objects or structures to be treated by the instrument or to be avoided by the instrument during the surgical procedure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2019
    Assignee: Stryker Corporation
    Inventors: David Gene Bowling, Donald W. Malackowski, José Luis Moctezuma de la Barrera, Patrick Roessler, Jerry A. Culp, John Michael Stuart, Joel N. Beer
  • Patent number: 10514702
    Abstract: A method detecting a floor obstacle using a laser range finder according to the present invention includes the following steps: (a) generating normal floor characteristic data with regard to a flat normal driving surface having no floor obstacle; (b) registering the normal floor characteristic data on a pre-registered one-class classification method; (c) obtaining sensing value of the laser range finder according to the driving of a mobile robot; (d) generating sensing value-floor characteristic data with respect to the sensing value; and (e) determining whether the sensing value indicates a normal driving surface or a floor obstacle by applying the sensing value-floor characteristic data to the one-class classification method. Therefore, an obstacle including a relatively small floor obstacle existing on the driving path of a mobile robot can be detected more effectively using a laser range finder, thereby providing more stably an area where the mobile robot can travel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2019
    Assignee: Korea University Research and Business Foundation
    Inventors: Woojin Chung, Hyunsuk Lee
  • Patent number: 10492879
    Abstract: A surgical robot system for stereotactic surgery, according to the present disclosure, may include: a stereotactic surgery unit to move and rotate a surgical instrument; a controller to receive the first imaging data that represents a three-dimensional image of a surgical portion that includes a surgical target; one or more markers to be attached to, or disposed near, the surgical portion; an imaging unit to create the second imaging data that represents a three-dimensional external image of the surgical portion; and a tracking unit to track the positions and postures of the imaging unit and the markers. The controller may create the coordinate conversion relationships for converting a coordinate from the first coordinate system of the first imaging data into the fourth coordinate system of the stereotactic surgery unit and control the stereotactic surgery unit by using the coordinate conversion relationships above.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2019
    Assignee: KOH YOUNG TECHNOLOGY INC.
    Inventors: Eun Hyoung Seong, Young Sik Kwon, Jae Heon Chung
  • Patent number: 10493632
    Abstract: A robot control device able to accurately estimate an external force applied from a workpiece to a robot in a time-dependently changing manner. The robot control device includes a support force data acquisition section which acquires measurement data of a workpiece support force by the environment, the workpiece support force varying while the robot lifts the workpiece; a disturbance estimation section which estimates a disturbance value applied to the robot using state information of the robot; and a correction section which corrects, using the measurement data acquired by the support force data acquisition section, the disturbance value estimated by the disturbance estimation section or the state information inputted to the disturbance estimation section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2019
    Assignee: FANUC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kenichiro Oguri, Soichi Arita
  • Patent number: 10486312
    Abstract: A robot directly recognizes an emotion of a user and controls an operation in a conversation by exchanging messages in the conversation between the user and the robot is provided. The robot is able to communicate with a mobile terminal carried by the user and includes: a storage unit configured to store a plurality of applications to control motions of the robot in advance; a reception unit configured to receive a message for a conversation with the robot which is transmitted from the mobile terminal; a selection unit configured to select one application from the plurality of applications based on instruction information included in the message; and a control unit configured to control a mechanism to actuate the robot based on the selected application.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: Vstone Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Nobuo Yamato
  • Patent number: 10486305
    Abstract: A method for controlling a plurality of agents to complete a mission, including deriving a decomposition set of decomposition states in a set of possible states of an automaton, wherein the automaton characterizes the mission, deriving a sequence of actions to be carried out by the plurality of agents depending on the decomposition set, where each action is to be carried out by at most one of the plurality of agents.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Mathias Buerger, Philipp Christian Schillinger