Patents by Inventor Katsuhiko Asai

Katsuhiko Asai 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: 12111657
    Abstract: An unmanned aerial vehicle includes: a sensor including at least a microphone that generates sound data; and a processor. The processor determines a quality of a target sound by using the sound data generated by the microphone, acquires a positional relationship between the unmanned aerial vehicle and a sound source of the target sound by using data generated by the sensor, determines a destination to which the sound source is to move based on the quality of the target sound and the positional relationship, and presents target movement information that prompts the sound source to move toward the destination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2024
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shunsuke Kuhara, Kazunobu Konishi, Stephen William John, Katsuhiko Asai, Kazuo Inoue
  • Patent number: 12045069
    Abstract: Unmanned aerial vehicle includes a microphone which picks up a sound emitted by a target, an actuator which extends to change a position of the microphone, and a processor. The processor obtains positional relationship information which indicates at least one of a position of the target or a distance from the unmanned aerial vehicle to the target, causes the unmanned aerial vehicle to move to a first position at which the unmanned aerial vehicle and the target have a predetermined positional relationship based on the positional relationship information, and causes actuator to extend toward the target after unmanned aerial vehicle moves to the first position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2024
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Katsuhiko Asai, Kazuo Inoue, Kazunobu Konishi, Stephen William John, Shunsuke Kuhara
  • Patent number: 12024284
    Abstract: A controller includes processor and memory. The memory stores (i) a captured image outputted from a camera in an unmanned aircraft and (ii) sound outputted from a directional microphone in the unmanned aircraft, and stores (i) a position and an orientation of the camera and (ii) a position and an orientation of the directional microphone. The processor obtains, from the memory, the captured image, the sound, the position and the orientation of the camera, and the position and the orientation of the directional microphone, calculates a sound pickup direction of the directional microphone using the position and the orientation of the camera and the position and the orientation of the directional microphone, superimposes an object indicating the sound pickup direction at a position, on the captured image, corresponding to the sound pickup direction calculated, and causes a display device to display the captured image on which the object is superimposed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2024
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION OF AMERICA
    Inventors: Katsuhiko Asai, Kazunobu Konishi, Stephen William John, Kazuo Inoue, Shunsuke Kuhara
  • Publication number: 20240166348
    Abstract: An unmanned aircraft includes: a microphone including a plurality of elements; and a processor that processes signals output from target elements included in the plurality of elements. In the unmanned aircraft, the processor performs a detection process of detecting a target sound signal of a target sound from the signals output from the target elements included in the plurality of elements, and changes the target elements that output the signals to be processed by the processor to select at least one target element that outputs a signal to be processed by the processor from among the plurality of elements, in accordance with a result of the detection process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 29, 2024
    Publication date: May 23, 2024
    Inventors: Stephen William JOHN, Kazunobu Konishi, Katsuhiko Asai, Shunsuke Kuhara
  • Patent number: 11928974
    Abstract: An unmanned aircraft includes: a sensor that includes at least a microphone that generates sound data; and a processor. The processor determines quality of a target sound using the sound data generated by the microphone, obtains a positional relationship between the unmanned aircraft and a sound source of the target sound using data generated by the sensor, and controls movement of the unmanned aircraft to control a distance between the unmanned aircraft and the sound source of the target sound, in accordance with the quality of the target sound and the positional relationship.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Stephen William John, Kazunobu Konishi, Katsuhiko Asai, Kazuo Inoue, Shunsuke Kuhara
  • Patent number: 11919640
    Abstract: An unmanned aircraft includes: a microphone including a plurality of elements; and a processor that processes signals output from target elements included in the plurality of elements. In the unmanned aircraft, the processor performs a detection process of detecting a target sound signal of a target sound from the signals output from the target elements included in the plurality of elements, and changes the target elements that output the signals to be processed by the processor to select at least one target element that outputs a signal to be processed by the processor from among the plurality of elements, in accordance with a result of the detection process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Stephen William John, Kazunobu Konishi, Katsuhiko Asai, Shunsuke Kuhara
  • Patent number: 11760479
    Abstract: An unmanned aircraft includes: at least two generators generating forces to fly the unmanned aircraft, each including a rotor blade generating an airflow; a sensor detecting a tilt of the unmanned aircraft; and a processor controlling the generators to control flight of the unmanned aircraft. The processor: obtains an output force adjustment trigger for the generators; obtaining the trigger, causes each generator to individually operate at least until the tilt of the unmanned aircraft detected by the sensor satisfies a predetermined condition; determines a reference value related to an output force of each generator from a value related to the output force of each generator when the tilt of the unmanned aircraft satisfies the predetermined condition and a positional relationship between the generators; and controls the flight of the unmanned aircraft, using the reference values determined.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kazuo Inoue, Kazunobu Konishi, Stephen John, Katsuhiko Asai, Shunsuke Kuhara
  • Patent number: 11755036
    Abstract: A controller obtains a first horizontal distance and a first vertical distance which are respectively a component in a horizontal direction and a component in a vertical direction among distances from an unmanned aerial vehicle to a surface of a particular place where elevation gradually increases or decreases along the horizontal direction, decides, based on a ratio of the first horizontal distance to the first vertical distance, a movement amount by which the unmanned aerial vehicle is to be moved simultaneously in both the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, and moves the unmanned aerial vehicle based on the movement amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shunsuke Kuhara, Kazunobu Konishi, Stephen William John, Katsuhiko Asai
  • Patent number: 11741932
    Abstract: An unmanned aircraft includes: rotor blades; a duct that shrouds the rotor blades and through which airflow generated by rotation of the rotor blades passes; and a processor that controls rotation of the rotor blades. The height to width ratio of an inner space of the duct in which the rotor blades are shrouded is at least 0.5.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Stephen William John, Toshiyuki Matsumura, Kazunobu Konishi, Katsuhiko Asai, Shunsuke Kuhara
  • Patent number: 11656639
    Abstract: An information processing method performed by a computer includes: determining whether a target sound has been recognized; when it is determined that the target sound has been recognized, acquiring positions and sound recording directions of unmanned aerial vehicles; acquiring noise-related information regarding noise generated by at least one of the unmanned aerial vehicles; acquiring an estimated position of a sound recording target estimated from the target sound; determining at least one of target positions and target sound recording directions of the unmanned aerial vehicles based on the estimated position of the sound recording target, the positions and the sound recording directions of the unmanned aerial vehicles, and the noise-related information; and outputting, to each of the unmanned aerial vehicles, at least one of a request for moving to the target position and a request for setting the sound recording direction to the target sound recording direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Stephen William John, Kazunobu Konishi, Katsuhiko Asai, Kazuo Inoue, Shunsuke Kuhara
  • Patent number: 11469691
    Abstract: An unmanned aircraft includes: a processor; and at least two generators that generate thrust for the unmanned aircraft to fly, the at least two generators each including a corresponding one of rotor blades that produce airflows. In the unmanned aircraft, the processor generates a control request for changing a rotational speed of at least one of the rotor blades of the at least two generators to reduce a difference between rotational speeds, in response to start of sound recording by a microphone, and the at least two generators rotate the rotor blades in accordance with the control request.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Stephen William John, Kazunobu Konishi, Katsuhiko Asai, Kazuo Inoue
  • Patent number: 11445769
    Abstract: An assist garment is configured to be worn on a part of a human body and includes a plurality of garment-fitting actuators placed linearly along at least one end portion of a garment body and configured to be driven to extend and contract, a plurality of assisting actuators placed linearly on the garment body to cross the plurality of garment-fitting actuators and configured to be driven to extend and contract, and a controller configured to individually control driving of the plurality of assisting actuators and driving of the plurality of garment-fitting actuators.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Stephen William John, Katsuhiko Asai, Takayuki Nagata, Masaki Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 11377198
    Abstract: An unmanned flying object, capable of suppressing an increase in overall size while having a configuration to reduce noise, is provided. The unmanned flying object includes a duct that corresponds to: at least one generator that generates airflow; at least one microphone; and at least one speaker. The duct covers the at least one generator in a direction perpendicular to an airflow direction, passes the airflow in the airflow direction, includes a space between inner and outer peripheral surfaces, and defines an opening at the end of the space in the airflow direction. A shape of the inner peripheral surface is tapered in the airflow direction. The at least one microphone is positioned in the space. The at least one speaker is positioned closer to the at least one generator than the at least one microphone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION OF AMERICA
    Inventors: Kazunobu Konishi, Stephen William John, Katsuhiko Asai, Ko Mizuno
  • Patent number: 11325703
    Abstract: A control device includes a processor which: obtains first region information indicating a first region; obtains first position information indicating the position of an unmanned aerial vehicle tethered to a tethering device using a tether; and controls the tethering device using the first region information and the first position information to cause the tether to have tension corresponding to a specified distance which is at least one of the shortest distance between a boundary of the first region and the position of the unmanned aerial vehicle and a distance included in a predetermined range from the shortest distance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2022
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Katsuhiko Asai, Kazunobu Konishi, Stephen William John, Kazuo Inoue
  • Publication number: 20220122576
    Abstract: An unmanned aircraft includes: rotor blades; a duct that shrouds the rotor blades and through which airflow generated by rotation of the rotor blades passes; and a processor that controls rotation of the rotor blades. The height to width ratio of an inner space of the duct in which the rotor blades are shrouded is at least 0.5.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 4, 2022
    Publication date: April 21, 2022
    Inventors: Stephen William JOHN, Toshiyuki MATSUMURA, Kazunobu KONISHI, Katsuhiko ASAI, Shunsuke KUHARA
  • Publication number: 20220097850
    Abstract: An unmanned aircraft includes: a microphone including a plurality of elements; and a processor that processes signals output from target elements included in the plurality of elements. In the unmanned aircraft, the processor performs a detection process of detecting a target sound signal of a target sound from the signals output from the target elements included in the plurality of elements, and changes the target elements that output the signals to be processed by the processor to select at least one target element that outputs a signal to be processed by the processor from among the plurality of elements, in accordance with a result of the detection process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2021
    Publication date: March 31, 2022
    Inventors: Stephen William JOHN, Kazunobu KONISHI, Katsuhiko ASAI, Shunsuke KUHARA
  • Publication number: 20210405663
    Abstract: An information processing method performed by a computer includes: determining whether a target sound has been recognized; when it is determined that the target sound has been recognized, acquiring positions and sound recording directions of unmanned aerial vehicles; acquiring noise-related information regarding noise generated by at least one of the unmanned aerial vehicles; acquiring an estimated position of a sound recording target estimated from the target sound; determining at least one of target positions and target sound recording directions of the unmanned aerial vehicles based on the estimated position of the sound recording target, the positions and the sound recording directions of the unmanned aerial vehicles, and the noise-related information; and outputting, to each of the unmanned aerial vehicles, at least one of a request for moving to the target position and a request for setting the sound recording direction to the target sound recording direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 8, 2021
    Publication date: December 30, 2021
    Inventors: Stephen William JOHN, Kazunobu KONISHI, Katsuhiko ASAI, Kazuo INOUE, Shunsuke KUHARA
  • Publication number: 20210405662
    Abstract: Unmanned aerial vehicle includes a microphone which picks up a sound emitted by a target, an actuator which extends to change a position of the microphone, and a processor. The processor obtains positional relationship information which indicates at least one of a position of the target or a distance from the unmanned aerial vehicle to the target, causes the unmanned aerial vehicle to move to a first position at which the unmanned aerial vehicle and the target have a predetermined positional relationship based on the positional relationship information, and causes actuator to extend toward the target after unmanned aerial vehicle moves to the first position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2021
    Publication date: December 30, 2021
    Inventors: Katsuhiko ASAI, Kazuo INOUE, Kazunobu KONISHI, Stephen William JOHN, Shunsuke KUHARA
  • Patent number: 11186364
    Abstract: An information processing method includes the following steps performed using a processor: obtaining first region information indicating a first region; obtaining first position information indicating the position of an unmanned aerial vehicle tethered to a mobile tethering body using a tether; determining, using the first region information and the first position information, a first destination which is a destination of the mobile tethering body; and moving the mobile tethering body to the first destination. The first destination is a position located at least a predetermined distance from a point which is on the boundary of the first region and located the shortest distance from the position of the unmanned aerial vehicle, in the direction from the point on the boundary of the first region to the position of the unmanned aerial vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kazunobu Konishi, Stephen William John, Kazuo Inoue, Katsuhiko Asai
  • Publication number: 20210333803
    Abstract: A controller obtains a first horizontal distance and a first vertical distance which are respectively a component in a horizontal direction and a component in a vertical direction among distances from an unmanned aerial vehicle to a surface of a particular place where elevation gradually increases or decreases along the horizontal direction, decides, based on a ratio of the first horizontal distance to the first vertical distance, a movement amount by which the unmanned aerial vehicle is to be moved simultaneously in both the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, and moves the unmanned aerial vehicle based on the movement amount.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 7, 2021
    Publication date: October 28, 2021
    Applicant: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shunsuke KUHARA, Kazunobu KONISHI, Stephen William JOHN, Katsuhiko ASAI