Patents by Inventor Felix J. E. Comeau

Felix J. E. Comeau 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).

  • Publication number: 20200151474
    Abstract: Non-intrusive assessment of fatigue in drivers using eye tracking. In a simulated driving experiment, vigilance was assessed by power spectral analysis of multichannel electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, recorded simultaneously, and binary labels of alert and drowsy (baseline) were generated for each epoch of the eye tracking data. A classifier and a non-linear support vector machine were employed for vigilance assessment. Evaluation results revealed a high accuracy of 88% for the RF classifier, which significantly outperformed the SVM with 81% accuracy (p<0.001). In a simulated driving experiment, the simultaneously recorded multichannel electroencephalogram (EEG) signals were used as the baseline. A random forest (RF) and a non-linear support vector machine (SVM) were employed for binary classification of the state of vigilance. Different lengths of eye tracking epoch were selected for feature extraction, and the performance of each classifier was investigated for every epoch length.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 1, 2019
    Publication date: May 14, 2020
    Inventors: Ali Shahidi Zandi, Min Liang, Azhar Quddus, Laura Prest, Felix J.E. Comeau
  • Publication number: 20200019044
    Abstract: Apparatus for use with a vehicle having a seat for a driver and a windshield. The apparatus includes a camera and a suction cup attached to the camera having a central hollow. A light is contained in the hollow. The suction cup, the light and the camera are adapted such that, in use, the suction cup is secured to the windshield, the camera is orientated to capture a view of the driver of the vehicle and the light, when illuminated, is visible through the windshield.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 12, 2019
    Publication date: January 16, 2020
    Inventor: Felix J.E. Comeau
  • Patent number: 10328800
    Abstract: A system for use with a motor vehicle, the system including a gas sampler device including a wireless communication subsystem and an input element configured to receive a gas sample. The system further includes an interlock device including a second wireless communication subsystem and a computing device configured to: determine a location of the gas sampler device within the motor vehicle based on proximity of the wireless communication subsystem, and activate an alarm event in dependence of the location of the gas sampler device within the motor vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2019
    Assignee: Alcohol Countermeasure Systems (International) Inc.
    Inventors: Denise L. Connerty, Felix J. E. Comeau
  • Publication number: 20190167189
    Abstract: A system for use in a jurisdiction comprises a legal regime applicable to the jurisdiction which provides, in a situation wherein persons can be obliged to submit to physiological/behavioural testing based upon need for capacity and at risk of sanction based upon the results of such physiological/behavioural testing, persons that have previously voluntarily undergone a capacity test and substantially simultaneously undergone physiological testing rights different from those who have not.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2018
    Publication date: June 6, 2019
    Inventors: Paul Kuttner, Steven Leach, Matt Goledzinowski, Felix J.E. Comeau, Ali Shahidi Zandi, Azhar Quddus
  • Publication number: 20190077409
    Abstract: Non-intrusive assessment of fatigue in drivers using eye tracking. A set of 34 features were extracted from eye tracking data collected in subjects participating in a simulated driving experiment. Vigilance was assessed by power spectral analysis of multichannel electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, recorded simultaneously, and binary labels of alert and drowsy (baseline) were generated for each epoch of the eye tracking data. A classifier and a non-linear support vector machine were employed for vigilance assessment. Evaluation results revealed a high accuracy of 88% for the RF classifier, which significantly outperformed the SVM with 81% accuracy (p<0.001).
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2018
    Publication date: March 14, 2019
    Inventors: Ali Shahidi Zandi, Min Liang, Azhar Quddus, Laura Prest, Felix J.E. Comeau
  • Publication number: 20180113113
    Abstract: The system comprises: a plurality of dispensing units distributed throughout the jurisdiction, each unit including: apparatus for receiving a breath sample from a person; apparatus for analysis the breath system for the presence of recreational drugs and/or alcohol; and apparatus for producing a printed or electronic ticket if the analysis of the breath sample does not reveal drugs and/or alcohol in an amount above a predetermined limit, the ticket including details of the time of the sample.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 23, 2017
    Publication date: April 26, 2018
    Inventors: Felix J.E. Comeau, Bruce A. Bailey, Steven H. Leach, Matt Goledzinowski
  • Publication number: 20180055354
    Abstract: A method, which is for assessing drowsiness of a subject over a period of time, includes the steps of: acquiring gaze and blink measurements of the subject over a period of time; and statistically comparing the measurements against a plurality of gaze and blink measurements, which have been correlated to alertness, in order to produce a value representative of alertness/drowsiness.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 31, 2017
    Publication date: March 1, 2018
    Inventors: Ali Shahidi Zandi, Azhar Quddus, Felix J.E. Comeau, Stuart Fogel
  • Patent number: 9770984
    Abstract: Apparatus for use with a vehicle is disclosed and comprises an interlock device. The device is adapted to, in use: at least while said vehicle is in motion, periodically generate a prompt; assess motion of said vehicle; at least when said vehicle is assessed by said device to be at rest, carry out an analysis operation wherein a breath sample is received and analyzed; and in the event that, within a predetermined period following a prompt, the device does not, while said vehicle is assessed to be at rest, carry out said analysis operation, enter an alarm state at least when the vehicle is in motion. The device can be adapted to carry out analysis operations only when the vehicle is assessed to be at rest.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2017
    Assignee: Alcohol Countermeasure Systems (International) Inc.
    Inventor: Felix J. E. Comeau
  • Patent number: 9662976
    Abstract: An improved ignition interlock system being of the type including a plurality of ignition interlock devices. A vehicle is provided in which each device is installed. The plurality of service centers are provided with each service center having an associated computer adapted to extract data. A wireless transceiver is associated with each device. A wireless transceiver is associated with each service center. Computing functionality is associated with the service centers and with the devices and adapted such that when any of the vehicles attends any of the service centers, the computer associated with that service center can extract the data from the device disposed within that vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignee: Alcohol Countermeasure Systems (International) Inc.
    Inventors: Felix J. E. Comeau, Denise L. Connerty
  • Publication number: 20160089976
    Abstract: Apparatus for use with a vehicle is disclosed and comprises an interlock device. The device is adapted to, in use: at least while said vehicle is in motion, periodically generate a prompt; assess motion of said vehicle; at least when said vehicle is assessed by said device to be at rest, carry out an analysis operation wherein a breath sample is received and analyzed; and in the event that, within a predetermined period following a prompt, the device does not, while said vehicle is assessed to be at rest, carry out said analysis operation, enter an alarm state at least when the vehicle is in motion. The device can be adapted to carry out analysis operations only when the vehicle is assessed to be at rest.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 24, 2015
    Publication date: March 31, 2016
    Inventor: Felix J.E. Comeau
  • Publication number: 20160082837
    Abstract: An improved ignition interlock system being of the type including a plurality of ignition interlock devices. A vehicle is provided in which each device is installed. The plurality of service centers are provided with each service center having an associated computer adapted to extract data. A wireless transceiver is associated with each device. A wireless transceiver is associated with each service center. Computing functionality is associated with the service centers and with the devices and adapted such that when any of the vehicles attends any of the service centers, the computer associated with that service center can extract the data from the device disposed within that vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 2, 2015
    Publication date: March 24, 2016
    Inventors: Felix J.E. Comeau, Denise L. Connerty
  • Patent number: 9227512
    Abstract: An improved ignition interlock system being of the type including a plurality of ignition interlock devices. A vehicle is provided in which each device is installed. The plurality of service centers are provided with each service center having an associated computer adapted to extract data. A wireless transceiver is associated with each device. A wireless transceiver is associated with each service center. Computing functionality is associated with the service centers and with the devices and adapted such that when any of the vehicles attends any of the service centers, the computer associated with that service center can extract the data from the device disposed within that vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2016
    Inventors: Felix J. E. Comeau, Denise L. Connerty
  • Patent number: 9221339
    Abstract: Apparatus for use with a vehicle is disclosed and comprises an interlock device. The device is adapted to, in use: at least while said vehicle is in motion, periodically generate a prompt; assess motion of said vehicle; at least when said vehicle is assessed by said device to be at rest, carry out an analysis operation wherein a breath sample is received and analyzed; and in the event that, within a predetermined period following a prompt, the device does not, while said vehicle is assessed to be at rest, carry out said analysis operation, enter an alarm state at least when the vehicle is in motion. The device can be adapted to carry out analysis operations only when the vehicle is assessed to be at rest.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2015
    Assignee: ALCOHOL COUNTERMEASURE SYSTEMS (INTERNATIONAL) INC.
    Inventor: Felix J. E. Comeau
  • Publication number: 20140164233
    Abstract: An improved ignition interlock system being of the type including a plurality of ignition interlock devices. A vehicle is provided in which each device is installed. The plurality of service centers are provided with each service center having an associated computer adapted to extract data. A wireless transceiver is associated with each device. A wireless transceiver is associated with each service center. Computing functionality is associated with the service centers and with the devices and adapted such that when any of the vehicles attends any of the service centers, the computer associated with that service center can extract the data from the device disposed within that vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2013
    Publication date: June 12, 2014
    Inventors: Felix J.E. Comeau, Denise L. Connerty
  • Publication number: 20140138175
    Abstract: Apparatus for use with a vehicle is disclosed and comprises an interlock device. The device is adapted to, in use: at least while said vehicle is in motion, periodically generate a prompt; assess motion of said vehicle; at least when said vehicle is assessed by said device to be at rest, carry out an analysis operation wherein a breath sample is received and analyzed; and in the event that, within a predetermined period following a prompt, the device does not, while said vehicle is assessed to be at rest, carry out said analysis operation, enter an alarm state at least when the vehicle is in motion. The device can be adapted to carry out analysis operations only when the vehicle is assessed to be at rest.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 27, 2014
    Publication date: May 22, 2014
    Inventor: Felix J.E. Comeau
  • Patent number: 8648728
    Abstract: Apparatus for use with a vehicle is disclosed and comprises an interlock device. The device is adapted to, in use: at least while said vehicle is in motion, periodically generate a prompt; assess motion of said vehicle; at least when said vehicle is assessed by said device to be at rest, carry out an analysis operation wherein a breath sample is received and analyzed; and in the event that, within a predetermined period following a prompt, the device does not, while said vehicle is assessed to be at rest, carry out said analysis operation, enter an alarm state at least when the vehicle is in motion. The device can be adapted to carry out analysis operations only when the vehicle is assessed to be at rest.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2014
    Inventor: Felix J. E. Comeau
  • Publication number: 20130338880
    Abstract: A system for use with a motor vehicle, the system including a gas sampler device including a wireless communication subsystem and an input element configured to receive a gas sample. The system further includes an interlock device including a second wireless communication subsystem and a computing device configured to: determine a location of the gas sampler device within the motor vehicle based on proximity of the wireless communication subsystem, and activate an alarm event in dependence of the location of the gas sampler device within the motor vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 18, 2012
    Publication date: December 19, 2013
    Inventors: Denise L. Connerty, Felix J.E. Comeau
  • Publication number: 20110193708
    Abstract: Apparatus for use with a vehicle is disclosed and comprises an interlock device. The device is adapted to, in use: at least while said vehicle is in motion, periodically generate a prompt; assess motion of said vehicle; at least when said vehicle is assessed by said device to be at rest, carry out an analysis operation wherein a breath sample is received and analyzed; and in the event that, within a predetermined period following a prompt, the device does not, while said vehicle is assessed to be at rest, carry out said analysis operation, enter an alarm state at least when the vehicle is in motion. The device can be adapted to carry out analysis operations only when the vehicle is assessed to be at rest.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 11, 2011
    Publication date: August 11, 2011
    Inventor: Felix J.E. Comeau
  • Patent number: 4912458
    Abstract: A sobriety interlock of the type connectable to a machine such as a vehicle and normally operating to disable the machine from starting unless a breath sobriety test is passed, is equipped with a service reminder timer operable to initiate an appropriate indication when the interlock is due to be serviced and optionally, to provide one or more advance indications prior thereto. In the event the interlock is not serviced when due or within an optional grace period thereafter, appropriate action is preferably initiated. In one alternative form, this action includes disabling the vehicle or other machine to which the interlock is connected, regardless of whether a sobriety test or other condition normally imposed by the interlock is satisfied, until timely service is obtained. In a second alternative form, the sobriety interlock of the invention does not disable the vehicle for failure to obtain timely service.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 1988
    Date of Patent: March 27, 1990
    Assignee: Guardian Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Felix J. E. Comeau, Herman Quast
  • Patent number: 4901058
    Abstract: A sobriety interlock is connectable to a machine such as a vehicle and normally operates to disable the machine from starting unless one or more preconditions, such as the passage of a breath sobriety test, is satisfied. In the event the interlock is bypassed,i.e. the machine started without a prerequisite condition being satisfied, the bypass event is detected and recorded. The record of bypass events preferably includes an indication of each time interval, such as a day, during which at least one bypass event took place as well as the total number of bypass events detected since the sobriety interlock was installed or last serviced. Also disclosed is a remote service device connectable to the interlock by service personnel and useful for such purposes as reading and/or clearing the record of bypass attempts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 1988
    Date of Patent: February 13, 1990
    Assignee: Guardian Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Felix J. E. Comeau, Herman Quast, Jeffrey C. Jewitt