Patents by Inventor Colin Andrew

Colin Andrew 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: 11417110
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for the generation and use of a surfel map with semantic labels. One of the methods includes receiving a surfel map that includes a plurality of surfels, wherein each surfel has associated data that includes one or more semantic labels; obtaining sensor data for one or more locations in the environment, the sensor data having been captured by one or more sensors of a first vehicle; determining one or more surfels corresponding to the one or more locations of the obtained sensor data; identifying one or more semantic labels for the one or more surfels corresponding to the one or more locations of the obtained sensor data; and performing, for each surfel corresponding to the one or more locations of the obtained sensor data, a label-specific detection process for the surfel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Dragomir Anguelov, Colin Andrew Braley, Christoph Sprunk
  • Patent number: 11391825
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for determining that prediction outputs generated by a prediction system are sensitive to variations in the values of one or more of a set of target sensor calibration parameters. In one aspect, a sensitivity analysis system is configured to perform operations comprising updating the values of one or more target sensor calibration parameters of each sensor data tuple of a plurality sensor data tuples, comprising, for each sensor data tuple: providing the sensor data tuple with the current values of the target sensor calibration parameters to the prediction subsystem to generate a current prediction output; determining a gradient of a function of the current prediction output with respect to the target sensor calibration parameters; and updating the current values of the target sensor calibration parameters of the sensor data tuple using the gradient.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventor: Colin Andrew Braley
  • Publication number: 20220207760
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for labeling point clouds using distance field data. One of the methods includes obtaining a point cloud characterizing a region of the environment, the point cloud comprising a plurality of points; obtaining distance field data specifying, for each of a plurality of locations in the region of the environment, a distance from the location to a nearest static object in the environment; determining, using the distance field data and for each of the plurality of points, a respective distance from the point to a nearest static object in the environment to the point; and identifying, based on the respective distances for the plurality of points in the point cloud, one or more of the points as candidate dynamic object points that are likely to be measurements of a dynamic object in the environment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 29, 2020
    Publication date: June 30, 2022
    Inventor: Colin Andrew Braley
  • Publication number: 20220204019
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for sensor calibration with environment map. In some implementations, a three-dimensional surfel representation of a real-world environment is obtained. One or more surfels of the surfel representation having a particular classification of the different classifications are selected. Input sensor data from one or more sensors installed on an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle are received. The input sensor data is compared to the surfel representation to identify one or more differences between the observation and the surfel representation. At least one sensor of the one or more sensors is calibrated using the one or more differences between the observation and the surfel representation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 31, 2020
    Publication date: June 30, 2022
    Inventors: Christian Lauterbach, Colin Andrew Braley, Carlos Hernandez Esteban, Michael Montemerlo
  • Publication number: 20220188487
    Abstract: Various methods, apparatuses/systems, and media for ultra-high dimensional Hawkes processes are disclosed. A receiver receives event data from a plurality of data sources. The event data includes ultra-high dimensional data. A processor creates a model by modeling the event data as modalities. Each modality contains a number of marks of the event. The processor reduces the dimensionality of the ultra-high dimensional data to a predefined value by implementing processes of factorization; implements a simulation process based on a superposition principle; samples an inter-arrival time for each mark within a modality by applying the simulation process to generate synthetic data; and simulates the synthetic data using the created model thereby increasing processing speed of the processor for processing the ultra-high dimensional data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2020
    Publication date: June 16, 2022
    Applicant: JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
    Inventors: Chak Kei Jack WONG, Colin Andrew TARGONSKI, Jacobo ROA VICENS
  • Publication number: 20220179056
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for using naturally collected data in sensor calibration. One of the methods includes obtaining, using a first, calibrated sensor, a first plurality of raw sensor measurements of an environment; determining, from the first plurality of raw sensor measurements, a Truncated Signed Distance Field (TSDF)-based model of surfaces in the environment; obtaining, using a second sensor, a second plurality of raw sensor measurements of the environment; determining a multi-dimensional point cloud representation of the environment; and determining refined values of the set of calibration parameters of the second sensor based on a difference between, for each data point, (i) the multiple values that define the data point and (ii) multiple values that define a target data point derived from the TSDF-based model of surfaces in the environment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 8, 2020
    Publication date: June 9, 2022
    Inventors: Colin Andrew Braley, Antonio Teran Espinoza
  • Patent number: 11333005
    Abstract: A one-trip screen installation and cleaning system includes a tubular supporting a screen. The tubular has an inner surface defining a flow bore positioned radially inwardly of the screen. At least one actuator extends radially inwardly from the inner surface and is positioned axially offset relative to the screen. The at least one actuator includes at least one actuator surface. A wash pipe is arranged in the flow bore. The wash pipe includes a bypass valve including a selectively openable outlet port, a spray cleaning device arranged axially outwardly of the selectively openable outlet port, and an inflow control valve arranged between the selectively openable outlet port and the spray cleaning device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignee: BAKER HUGHES OILFIELD OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Wilfred Provost, Colin Andrew, Jesse Gerber
  • Publication number: 20220146676
    Abstract: Aspects and implementations of the present disclosure address shortcomings of the existing technology by enabling efficient object identification and tracking in autonomous vehicle (AV) applications by using velocity data-assisted mapping of first set of points obtained for a first sensing data frame by a sensing system of the AV to a second set of points obtained for a second sensing data frame by the sensing system of the AV, the first set of points and the second set of points corresponding to an object in an environment of the AV, and causing a driving path of the AV to be determined in view of the performed mapping.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 9, 2020
    Publication date: May 12, 2022
    Inventors: Nicholas Armstrong-Crews, Mingcheng Chen, Xiaoxiang Hu, Colin Andrew Braley, Yunshan Jiang
  • Publication number: 20220115547
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an all-back-contact photovoltaic device that includes, in order, a substrate, a first electrode having a first surface, an insulator, a second electrode having a second surface, and an active material, where the insulator and the second electrode form a cavity, the active material substantially fills the cavity and is in physical contact with the first surface and the second surface, the insulator includes a first layer and a second layer with the second layer positioned between the first layer and the second contact, and the first layer is constructed of a first material that is different than a second material used to construct the second layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 11, 2021
    Publication date: April 14, 2022
    Inventors: Kevin Joseph PRINCE, Colin Andrew WOLDEN, Lance Michael WHEELER
  • Patent number: 11299953
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a housing configured to be disposed in a borehole in a resource bearing formation, the housing including an axially extending fluid conduit configured to receive borehole fluid, and a seating assembly including a convertible component that is configured to be actuated to move the convertible component in a radial direction between an open position and a seating position. The convertible component extends radially into the fluid conduit and forms a landing seat for an object when in the seating position, and the convertible component allows passage of the object therethrough when in the open position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2022
    Assignee: BAKER HUGHES OILFIELD OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Michael Johnson, Matthew Stone, Colin Andrew
  • Publication number: 20220108119
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for using a surfel map to generate long range localization. One of the methods includes obtaining, for a particular location of a vehicle having a camera and a detection sensor, surfel data including a plurality of surfels. Each surfel in the surfel data has a respective location and corresponds to a different respective detected surface in an environment. Image data captured by the camera is obtained. It is determined that a region of interest for detecting objects for a vehicle planning process is outside a detectable region for the detection sensor. In response, it is determined that the image data for the region of interest matches surfel color data for the surfels corresponding to the region of interest. In response, the vehicle planning process is performed with the region of interest designated as having no unexpected objects.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 6, 2020
    Publication date: April 7, 2022
    Inventors: David Yonchar Margines, Carlos Hernandez Esteban, Michael Montemerlo, Peter Pawlowski, Colin Andrew Braley
  • Publication number: 20220097726
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus for generation and use of surfel maps to plan for occlusions. One of the methods includes receiving a previously-generated surfel map depicting an area in which a vehicle is located, the surfel map comprising a plurality of surfels, each surfel corresponding to a respective different location in the area in which a vehicle is located; receiving, from one or more sensors, sensor data representing the area in which the vehicle is located; determining, based on the sensor data, that the area in which a vehicle is located includes a dynamic object having a changed shape relative to its representation in the surfel map; and generating an updated path for the vehicle to travel that avoids an occlusion by the changed shape of the dynamic object of a line of sight of one or more sensors to an area of interest.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2020
    Publication date: March 31, 2022
    Inventors: Michael Buchanan, Aleksandar Rumenov Gabrovski, Colin Andrew Braley, David Yonchar Margines
  • Publication number: 20220092274
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer-storage media, for re-translation for simultaneous, spoken-language machine translation. In some implementations, a stream of audio data comprising speech in a first language is received. A transcription for the speech in the stream of audio data is generated using an automated speech recognizer through a series of updates. A translation of the transcription into a second language is generated using a machine translation module. The translation is generated with translation iterations that translate increasing amounts of the transcription, including re-translating previously portions of the transcription. A series of translation updates are provided to a client device based on the translation iterations.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 23, 2020
    Publication date: March 24, 2022
    Inventors: Naveen Arivazhagan, Colin Andrew Cherry, Wolfgang Macherey, Te I, George Foster, Pallavi N. Baljekar
  • Publication number: 20220082408
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for processing an initial representation of an environment to generate an updated representation that includes representations of one or more objects there were obscured in the initial representation. One of the methods includes obtaining initial surfel data comprising a plurality of surfels; determining a plurality of non-static surfels from the plurality of surfels; obtaining guidance data that characterizes a prediction for static surfaces in one or more first regions of the environment that were obscured by the plurality of non-static surfels in the initial surfel data; and processing the guidance data and the initial surfel data to generate final surfel data that comprises, for each first region of the environment, a plurality of predicted surfels that represent static surfaces in the first region that are partially or wholly obscured by objects represented by respective non-static surfels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2020
    Publication date: March 17, 2022
    Inventors: Michael Montemerlo, Colin Andrew Braley
  • Publication number: 20220076082
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for determining an alignment between cross-modal sensor data. In one aspect, a method comprises: obtaining (i) an image that characterizes a visual appearance of an environment, and (ii) a point cloud comprising a collection of data points that characterizes a three-dimensional geometry of the environment; processing each of a plurality of regions of the image using a visual embedding neural network to generate a respective embedding of each of the image regions; processing each of a plurality of regions of the point cloud using a shape embedding neural network to generate a respective embedding of each of the point cloud regions; and identifying a plurality of region pairs using the embeddings of the image regions and the embeddings of the point cloud regions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 19, 2021
    Publication date: March 10, 2022
    Inventors: Colin Andrew Braley, Volodymyr Ivanchenko, Yu Zhang
  • Publication number: 20220076030
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for the generation and use of a surfel map with semantic labels. One of the methods includes receiving a surfel map that includes a plurality of surfels, wherein each surfel has associated data that includes one or more semantic labels; obtaining sensor data for one or more locations in the environment, the sensor data having been captured by one or more sensors of a first vehicle; determining one or more surfels corresponding to the one or more locations of the obtained sensor data; identifying one or more semantic labels for the one or more surfels corresponding to the one or more locations of the obtained sensor data; and performing, for each surfel corresponding to the one or more locations of the obtained sensor data, a label-specific detection process for the surfel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 9, 2020
    Publication date: March 10, 2022
    Inventors: Dragomir Anguelov, Colin Andrew Braley, Christoph Sprunk
  • Publication number: 20220058309
    Abstract: Aspects and implementations of the present disclosure address shortcomings of existing technology by enabling autonomous vehicle simulations based on retro-reflection optical data. The subject matter of this specification can be implemented in, among other things, a method that involves initiating a simulation of an environment of an autonomous driving vehicle, the simulation including a plurality of simulated objects, each having an identification of a material type of the respective object. The method can further involve accessing simulated reflection data based on the plurality of simulated objects and retro-reflectivity data for the material types of the simulated objects, and determining, using an autonomous vehicle control system for the autonomous vehicle, a driving path relative to the simulated objects, the driving path based on the simulated reflection data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 24, 2020
    Publication date: February 24, 2022
    Inventors: Arthur Dov Safira, Harrison Lee McKenzie Chapter, Colin Andrew Braley, Hui Seong Son, Aleksandar Rumenov Gabrovski, Brian Choung Choi
  • Publication number: 20220049581
    Abstract: A one-trip screen installation and cleaning system includes a tubular supporting a screen. The tubular has an inner surface defining a flow bore positioned radially inwardly of the screen. At least one actuator extends radially inwardly from the inner surface and is positioned axially offset relative to the screen. The at least one actuator includes at least one actuator surface. A wash pipe is arranged in the flow bore. The wash pipe includes a bypass valve including a selectively openable outlet port, a spray cleaning device arranged axially outwardly of the selectively openable outlet port, and an inflow control valve arranged between the selectively openable outlet port and the spray cleaning device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 17, 2020
    Publication date: February 17, 2022
    Applicant: Baker Hughes Oilfield Operations LLC
    Inventors: Wilfred Provost, Colin Andrew, Jesse Gerber
  • Patent number: 11195064
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for determining an alignment between cross-modal sensor data. In one aspect, a method comprises: obtaining (i) an image that characterizes a visual appearance of an environment, and (ii) a point cloud comprising a collection of data points that characterizes a three-dimensional geometry of the environment; processing each of a plurality of regions of the image using a visual embedding neural network to generate a respective embedding of each of the image regions; processing each of a plurality of regions of the point cloud using a shape embedding neural network to generate a respective embedding of each of the point cloud regions; and identifying a plurality of region pairs using the embeddings of the image regions and the embeddings of the point cloud regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Colin Andrew Braley, Volodymyr Ivanchenko, Yu Zhang
  • Publication number: 20210345768
    Abstract: The present invention relates to height-adjustable standing/sitting desks, capable of being easily collapsed, via pivotable legs, to be easily stored away in common and unique spaces throughout a home. These desks may include a desktop, a support frame disposed underneath the desktop, a plurality of legs, and an actuator. The plurality of legs is coupled to the support frame. Each of the plurality of legs includes a plurality of integrated wheels. The actuator is disposed within the support frame and coupled to one or more of the plurality of legs. The actuator is configured to raise and lower the desktop.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 7, 2021
    Publication date: November 11, 2021
    Inventors: Colin Andrew Dowdle, James Charles Dowdle, Curtis Leroy Cruver, IV, Stephen Andrew Derfiny