Patents by Inventor Craig Schmatz

Craig Schmatz 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).

  • Trailer hitching assistance system with contact mitigation measures
    Patent number: 11358639
    Abstract: A system for assisting in aligning a vehicle for hitching with a trailer includes a controller that receives the scene data and identifying the trailer within the area to the rear of the vehicle, derives a backing path to align a hitch ball mounted on the vehicle to a coupler of the trailer, outputting a powertrain control signal to the vehicle powertrain control system, and a brake control signal to the vehicle brake system to maneuver the vehicle, including reversing along the backing path and stopping the vehicle at an endpoint of the path, and outputs a video image to the vehicle human-machine interface including a graphical overlay on the image data. The graphical overlay indicates potential movement of the hitch ball past the coupler and being positioned in the image data between a bumper of the vehicle and the hitch ball.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2022
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Seyed Armin Raeis Hosseiny, Luke Niewiadomski, Roger Arnold Trombley, Donald Jacob Mattern, Craig Schmatz, Li Xu, Arnav Sharma
  • TRAILER HITCHING ASSISTANCE SYSTEM WITH CONTACT MITIGATION MEASURES
    Publication number: 20210284238
    Abstract: A system for assisting in aligning a vehicle for hitching with a trailer includes a controller that receives the scene data and identifying the trailer within the area to the rear of the vehicle, derives a backing path to align a hitch ball mounted on the vehicle to a coupler of the trailer, outputting a powertrain control signal to the vehicle powertrain control system, and a brake control signal to the vehicle brake system to maneuver the vehicle, including reversing along the backing path and stopping the vehicle at an endpoint of the path, and outputs a video image to the vehicle human-machine interface including a graphical overlay on the image data. The graphical overlay indicates potential movement of the hitch ball past the coupler and being positioned in the image data between a bumper of the vehicle and the hitch ball.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 11, 2020
    Publication date: September 16, 2021
    Applicant: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Seyed Armin Raeis Hosseiny, Luke Niewiadomski, Roger Arnold Trombley, Donald Jacob Mattern, Craig Schmatz, Li Xu, Arnav Sharma