Patents by Inventor Christopher I. MENTZER

Christopher I. MENTZER has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11475577
    Abstract: A motion prediction system for predicting the motion of a random animate subject. A first neural network is a markerless motion capture network, trained to receive video data of the subject and to process the video data to generate a time sequence of musculoskeletal motion capture data. A second neural network is a motion prediction network, trained to receive the musculoskeletal motion capture data and to process the data to generate a prediction of the subject's location based on position change in position of joints and/or muscles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: Southwest Research Institute
    Inventors: Samuel E. Slocum, Omar D. Medjaouri, Edmond M. DuPont, Christopher I. Mentzer
  • Publication number: 20220138967
    Abstract: A motion prediction system for predicting the motion of a random animate subject. A first neural network is a markerless motion capture network, trained to receive video data of the subject and to process the video data to generate a time sequence of musculoskeletal motion capture data. A second neural network is a motion prediction network, trained to receive the musculoskeletal motion capture data and to process the data to generate a prediction of the subject's location based on position change in position of joints and/or muscles.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 1, 2020
    Publication date: May 5, 2022
    Inventors: Samuel E. Slocum, Omar D. Medjaouri, Edmond M. DuPont, Christopher I. Mentzer
  • Patent number: 9625904
    Abstract: An unmanned vehicle system, having at least one autonomous ground vehicle (A-GV) and at least one remote controlled aerial vehicle (RC-AV). The A-GV autonomously navigates across the ground, and on-board perception sensors, whose field of view that contains at least a portion of the ground ahead of the direction of travel of the ground vehicle as well as the RC-GV. The RC-AV flies in response to commands received from the control system of the A-GV. The RC-AV has on-board in-sky perception sensors having a field of view that contains at least a portion of the ground path to be followed by the ground vehicle. The control system of the A-GV locate the aerial vehicle, receives perception data from the on-ground perception sensors and the in-sky perception sensors, and uses combined perception data to determine a ground path for itself and for the RC-AV.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE
    Inventors: Ryan D. Lamm, Christopher I. Mentzer, Kristopher C. Kozak, Marc C. Alban, Jason C. Gassaway, Richard D. Garcia
  • Publication number: 20160282864
    Abstract: An unmanned vehicle system, having at least one autonomous ground vehicle (A-GV) and at least one remote controlled aerial vehicle (RC-AV). The A-GV autonomously navigates across the ground, and on-board perception sensors, whose field of view that contains at least a portion of the ground ahead of the direction of travel of the ground vehicle as well as the RC-GV. The RC-AV flies in response to commands received from the control system of the A-GV. The RC-AV has on-board in-sky perception sensors having a field of view that contains at least a portion of the ground path to be followed by the ground vehicle. The control system of the A-GV locate the aerial vehicle, receives perception data from the on-ground perception sensors and the in-sky perception sensors, and uses combined perception data to determine a ground path for itself and for the RC-AV.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2015
    Publication date: September 29, 2016
    Inventors: Ryan D. Lamm, Christopher I. Mentzer, Kristopher C. Kozak, Marc C. Alban, Jason C. Gassaway, Richard D. Garcia
  • Patent number: 8942964
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a method and system for simulating an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and simulating an environment in which the UAV may be flying. A plurality of visual sensors, e.g., cameras, positioned on the UAV, may be simulated. A UAV simulator is configured to simulate the UAV and a graphical simulator is configured to simulate the environment. The UAV simulator may be configured to: estimate pitch, roll and/or groundspeed based, at least in part, on outputs from the visual sensors, determine a position and/or an orientation of the simulated UAV in the simulated environment based, at least in part, on the estimate(s) and provide the position and/or orientation to the graphical simulator. The graphical simulator may be configured to display the simulated UAV at the position and/or orientation in the simulated environment and/or to display the simulated camera view(s).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 27, 2015
    Assignee: Southwest Research Institute
    Inventors: George T. McWilliams, III, Kevin J. Alley, Christopher I. Mentzer
  • Publication number: 20110301925
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a method and system for simulating an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and simulating an environment in which the UAV may be flying. A plurality of visual sensors, e.g., cameras, positioned on the UAV, may be simulated. A UAV simulator is configured to simulate the UAV and a graphical simulator is configured to simulate the environment. The UAV simulator may be configured to: estimate pitch, roll and/or groundspeed based, at least in part, on outputs from the visual sensors, determine a position and/or an orientation of the simulated UAV in the simulated environment based, at least in part, on the estimate(s) and provide the position and/or orientation to the graphical simulator. The graphical simulator may be configured to display the simulated UAV at the position and/or orientation in the simulated environment and/or to display the simulated camera view(s).
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 8, 2010
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE
    Inventors: George T. McWILLIAMS, III, Kevin J. ALLEY, Christopher I. MENTZER