Patents by Inventor Jeffrey S. Parks

Jeffrey S. Parks 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: 12005903
    Abstract: In an exemplary embodiment, a vehicle system is provided that includes a sensor array and a processor. The sensor array is configured to generate vehicle sensor data pertaining to a target vehicle in proximity to the vehicle. The processor is coupled to the sensor array, and is configured to at least facilitate: beginning an overtake maneuver for the vehicle, via instructions provided to the drive system, when conditions for an overtake of the target vehicle by the vehicle are initially determined by the processor to be valid; subsequent to the beginning of the overtake maneuver, determining via the processor whether the conditions for the overtake of the target vehicle are still valid, based on updated sensor data reflecting variant traffic conditions; and further controlling the overtake maneuver based on the determining as to whether the conditions for the overtake of the target vehicle are still valid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2024
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Paul A Adam, Jeffrey S Parks, Christopher J Trush, Christopher Michael Churay, Namal P Kumara
  • Publication number: 20240067174
    Abstract: Vehicles and related systems and methods are provided for controlling a vehicle in an autonomous operating mode. One method involves identifying an object in a potential incursion zone corresponding to a lane adjacent to a current lane of travel for the vehicle, determining an estimated time in zone associated with the object, and in response to determining the estimated time in zone is greater than a threshold, determining a longitudinal adjustment strategy to reduce the estimated time in zone associated with the object, determining an adjusted speed for the vehicle in accordance with the longitudinal adjustment strategy, determining a longitudinal trajectory for the vehicle within the current lane of travel based at least in part on the adjusted speed, and autonomously operating one or more actuators onboard the vehicle in accordance with the longitudinal trajectory.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 26, 2022
    Publication date: February 29, 2024
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Paul A. Adam, Jeffrey S. Parks, Avesta Goodarzi, Shaun C. Bowman
  • Patent number: 11891073
    Abstract: A control system for a vehicle using a forward-facing camera includes a look ahead module configured to determine a distance to a look ahead point. A lane center module determines a location of a lane center line. A vehicle center line module determines a location of a vehicle center line. A first lateral offset module determines a first lateral offset based on the look ahead point and the determined lane center line. A second lateral offset module determines a second lateral offset based on the determined lane center line and the vehicle center line. A yaw angle offset calculating module receives the first lateral offset, the second lateral offset and the distance to the look ahead point, calculates a yaw angle offset, and compensates a yaw angle error based on the yaw angle offset.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Gabriel T. Choi, Paul A. Adam, Jeffrey S. Parks, Lance A. Smith
  • Patent number: 11872988
    Abstract: In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, methods and systems are provided for controlling automatic overtake functionality for a host vehicle. In on such exemplary embodiment, a disclosed method includes: (i) obtaining, via a plurality of sensors, sensor data pertaining to the host vehicle and a roadway on which the host vehicle is traveling; (ii) determining, via a processor, when an automatic overtake is recommended, using the sensor data in conjunction with one or more threshold values; (iii) receiving driver inputs pertaining to the automatic overtake; and (iv) adjusting, via the processor, the one or more threshold values for the automatic overtake based on the driver inputs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Jeffrey S. Parks, Namal P. Kumara, Paul A. Adam, Gabriel T. Choi, Michael J. Abowd, Braden J. Swantick
  • Publication number: 20230278562
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for automatically controlling lane changes for a vehicle. In one exemplary embodiment: vehicle sensors are configured to provide sensor data pertaining to operation of the vehicle and surroundings of the vehicle along a roadway in which the vehicle is travelling; and a processor configured to at least facilitate: receiving, from a plurality of vehicle assessors, a plurality of respective requests with respect to one or more automated lane change maneuvers for the vehicle; and selectively implementing the one or more automated lane change maneuvers for the vehicle based on an arbitration algorithm that is executed by the processor and that provides arbitration for the plurality of respective requests from the plurality of vehicle assessors utilizing respective lane arbitration scores for a plurality of lanes of the roadway pertaining to the one or more automated lane change maneuvers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 1, 2022
    Publication date: September 7, 2023
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Jeffrey S. Parks, Paul A Adam, Braden J. Swantick
  • Patent number: 11685378
    Abstract: An autonomous vehicle and a system and method of operating the autonomous vehicle. The system includes a sensor and a processor. The processor determines an effective observation area of the sensor, the effective observation area being affected by an extrinsic condition. The processor determines an available time for performing a lane change based on the effective observation area and performs the lane change based on the available time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Jeffrey S. Parks, Paul A. Adam, Namai P. Kumara, Shaun C. Bowman, Dmitriy Feldman
  • Publication number: 20230182740
    Abstract: In an exemplary embodiment, a vehicle system is provided that includes a sensor array and a processor. The sensor array is configured to generate vehicle sensor data pertaining to a target vehicle in proximity to the vehicle. The processor is coupled to the sensor array, and is configured to at least facilitate: beginning an overtake maneuver for the vehicle, via instructions provided to the drive system, when conditions for an overtake of the target vehicle by the vehicle are initially determined by the processor to be valid; subsequent to the beginning of the overtake maneuver, determining via the processor whether the conditions for the overtake of the target vehicle are still valid, based on updated sensor data reflecting variant traffic conditions; and further controlling the overtake maneuver based on the determining as to whether the conditions for the overtake of the target vehicle are still valid.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2021
    Publication date: June 15, 2023
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Paul A. Adam, Jeffrey S. Parks, Christopher J. Trush, Christopher Michael Churay, Namal P. Kumara
  • Patent number: 11608079
    Abstract: One general aspect includes a system to prevent a boxed-in driving situation, the system including: a memory configured to include one or more executable instructions and a processor configured to execute the executable instructions, where the executable instructions enable the processor to detect a preventable box-in driving situation; and, based on the detection of the preventable box-in driving situation, adjust a location of a trigger threshold along a vehicle path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Jeffrey S. Parks, Namal P. Kumara, Paul A. Adam
  • Patent number: 11608059
    Abstract: The present application relates to a method and apparatus for real time lateral control and steering actuation assessment for a motor vehicle by determining a desired host vehicle path, establishing a control point along the host vehicle path, generating a motion path between a host vehicle location and the control point, estimating a theoretical acceleration of the host vehicle along the motion path, controlling the host vehicle along the motion path, receiving a measured acceleration from an inertial measurement unit within the host vehicle, generating an error term in response to a comparison of the motion path and the measured lateral travel, and adjusting the performance limits of the sub-features in response to the error term.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Jeffrey S. Parks, Paul A. Adam, Gabriel T. Choi, Braden J. Swantick, Michael J. Godfrey
  • Patent number: 11548511
    Abstract: A vehicle, system and method for operating the vehicle is disclose. The system includes a radar system and a processor. The radar system locates a gap between targets in a second lane adjoining a first lane, with the host vehicle residing in the first lane. The processor is configured to determine a viability value of the gap for a lane change, select the gap based on the viability value, align the host vehicle with the selected gap, and merge the host vehicle from the first lane into the selected gap in the second lane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Jeffrey S. Parks, Paul A. Adam, Gabriel T. Choi, Braden J. Swantick
  • Patent number: 11433897
    Abstract: The present application relates to a method and apparatus for controlling an ADAS equipped vehicle including a sensor configured for determining a first distance to a first proximate vehicle and a second distance to a second proximate vehicle, a user input operative to receive a user preference, a memory operative to store a map data, a processor operative to generate a current lane score and an adjacent lane score in response to the first distance, the second distance, the user preference, and the map data, the processor being further operative to generate a lane change control signal in response to the adjacent lane score exceeding the current lane score and a vehicle controller operative to perform a lane change operation from a current lane to an adjacent lane in response to the lane change control signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Jeffrey S. Parks, Paul A. Adam, Gabriel T. Choi, Braden J. Swantick, Namai P. Kumara
  • Publication number: 20220144276
    Abstract: In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, methods and systems are provided for controlling automatic overtake functionality for a host vehicle. In on such exemplary embodiment, a disclosed method includes: (i) obtaining, via a plurality of sensors, sensor data pertaining to the host vehicle and a roadway on which the host vehicle is traveling; (ii) determining, via a processor, when an automatic overtake is recommended, using the sensor data in conjunction with one or more threshold values; (iii) receiving driver inputs pertaining to the automatic overtake; and (iv) adjusting, via the processor, the one or more threshold values for the automatic overtake based on the driver inputs.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 10, 2020
    Publication date: May 12, 2022
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Jeffrey S. Parks, Namal P. Kumara, Paul A. Adam, Gabriel T. Choi, Michael J. Abowd, Braden J. Swantick
  • Publication number: 20220111848
    Abstract: An autonomous vehicle and a system and method of operating the autonomous vehicle. The system includes a sensor and a processor. The processor determines an effective observation area of the sensor, the effective observation area being affected by an extrinsic condition. The processor determines an available time for performing a lane change based on the effective observation area and performs the lane change based on the available time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 8, 2020
    Publication date: April 14, 2022
    Inventors: Jeffrey S. Parks, Paul A. Adam, Namal P. Kumara, Shaun C. Bowman, Dmitriy Feldman
  • Publication number: 20210380131
    Abstract: One general aspect includes a system to prevent a boxed-in driving situation, the system including: a memory configured to include one or more executable instructions and a processor configured to execute the executable instructions, where the executable instructions enable the processor to detect a preventable box-in driving situation; and, based on the detection of the preventable box-in driving situation, adjust a location of a trigger threshold along a vehicle path.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2020
    Publication date: December 9, 2021
    Inventors: Jeffrey S. Parks, Namal P. Kumara, Paul A. Adam
  • Publication number: 20210284162
    Abstract: The present application relates to a method and apparatus for controlling an ADAS equipped vehicle including a sensor configured for determining a first distance to a first proximate vehicle and a second distance to a second proximate vehicle, a user input operative to receive a user preference, a memory operative to store a map data, a processor operative to generate a current lane score and an adjacent lane score in response to the first distance, the second distance, the user preference, and the map data, the processor being further operative to generate a lane change control signal in response to the adjacent lane score exceeding the current lane score and a vehicle controller operative to perform a lane change operation from a current lane to an adjacent lane in response to the lane change control signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 13, 2020
    Publication date: September 16, 2021
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Jeffrey S. Parks, Paul A. Adam, Gabriel T. Choi, Braden J. Swantick, Namal P. Kumara
  • Patent number: 10997431
    Abstract: Examples of techniques for controlling a vehicle using an anchor line are disclosed. In one example implementation, a computer-implemented method includes receiving a lane line quality indicator from a camera associated with a vehicle. The method further includes determining a lane line weight. The method further includes comparing the lane line quality indicator to a quality threshold to determine whether the lane line is of sufficient quality to use as an anchor line. The method further includes comparing the lane line weight to a confidence threshold to determine whether the lane line is of sufficient confidence to use as the anchor line. The method further includes, responsive to determining that at least one of the lane line is not of sufficient quality and the lane line is not of sufficient weight, generating an alternate anchor line. The method further includes controlling the vehicle using the alternate anchor line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2021
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Jeffrey S. Parks, Loren J. Majersik, Chris C. Swoish
  • Publication number: 20210122379
    Abstract: A control system for a vehicle using a forward-facing camera includes a look ahead module configured to determine a distance to a look ahead point. A lane center module determines a location of a lane center line. A vehicle center line module determines a location of a vehicle center line. A first lateral offset module determines a first lateral offset based on the look ahead point and the determined lane center line. A second lateral offset module determines a second lateral offset based on the determined lane center line and the vehicle center line. A yaw angle offset calculating module receives the first lateral offset, the second lateral offset and the distance to the look ahead point, calculates a yaw angle offset, and compensates a yaw angle error based on the yaw angle offset.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2019
    Publication date: April 29, 2021
    Inventors: Gabriel T. CHOI, Paul A. ADAM, Jeffrey S. PARKS, Lance A. SMITH
  • Publication number: 20210061270
    Abstract: The present application relates to a method and apparatus for real time lateral control and steering actuation assessment for a motor vehicle by determining a desired host vehicle path, establishing a control point along the host vehicle path, generating a motion path between a host vehicle location and the control point, estimating a theoretical acceleration of the host vehicle along the motion path, controlling the host vehicle along the motion path, receiving a measured acceleration from an inertial measurement unit within the host vehicle, generating an error term in response to a comparison of the motion path and the measured lateral travel, and adjusting the performance limits of the sub-features in response to the error term.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 26, 2019
    Publication date: March 4, 2021
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Jeffrey S. Parks, Paul A. Adam, Gabriel T. Choi, Braden J. Swantick, Michael J. Godfrey
  • Publication number: 20200391746
    Abstract: A vehicle, system and method for operating the vehicle is disclose. The system includes a radar system and a processor. The radar system locates a gap between targets in a second lane adjoining a first lane, with the host vehicle residing in the first lane. The processor is configured to determine a viability value of the gap for a lane change, select the gap based on the viability value, align the host vehicle with the selected gap, and merge the host vehicle from the first lane into the selected gap in the second lane.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 14, 2019
    Publication date: December 17, 2020
    Inventors: Jeffrey S. Parks, Paul A. Adam, Gabriel T. Choi, Braden J. Swantick
  • Publication number: 20200361471
    Abstract: A host vehicle that includes an autonomous control system that is capable of executing an automatic lane change (ALC) maneuver is described. The ALC maneuver may be executed when the host vehicle is seeking to merge into a lane of travel. This includes operating under conditions that include moderate to heavy levels of traffic. The host vehicle is capable of soliciting a desired gap in a target lane by using a lane centering offset maneuver to influence and observe proximal vehicles operating in the target lane before executing the ALC maneuver.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 14, 2019
    Publication date: November 19, 2020
    Applicant: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Gabriel T. Choi, Paul A. Adam, Xiaofeng F. Song, Jeffrey S. Parks, Braden J. Swantick