Patents by Inventor Keith M. Allen

Keith M. Allen 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: 11640765
    Abstract: A system and method are disclosed. The system includes a computer readable medium having non-transitory computer readable program code embodied therein for risk-aware contingency flight re-planning. The computer readable instructions include instructions, which when executed by a computer device or processors, perform and direct the step of receiving a preplanned route, receiving a risk tolerance level from a decision maker, receiving input from a database, receiving an indication of an en route risk to the vehicle, determining an association of an exposure cost with at least one of a plurality of 4-D paths, ranking the plurality of 4-D paths based on the association of the exposure cost, and displaying a portion of the plurality of 4-D paths to the decision maker.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2023
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventor: Keith M. Allen
  • Publication number: 20220189313
    Abstract: A system and method are disclosed. The system includes a computer readable medium having non-transitory computer readable program code embodied therein for risk-aware contingency flight re-planning. The computer readable instructions include instructions, which when executed by a computer device or processors, perform and direct the step of receiving a preplanned route, receiving a risk tolerance level from a decision maker, receiving input from a database, receiving an indication of an en route risk to the vehicle, determining an association of an exposure cost with at least one of a plurality of 4-D paths, ranking the plurality of 4-D paths based on the association of the exposure cost, and displaying a portion of the plurality of 4-D paths to the decision maker.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 10, 2020
    Publication date: June 16, 2022
    Applicant: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventor: Keith M. Allen
  • Patent number: 11168986
    Abstract: An aircraft, a system, and a method. The aircraft may include a computing device. The computing device may include a processor. The processor may be configured to utilize inertial navigation data, global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurements, and flight trajectory data to compute navigation data and a predicted horizontal integrity level (HIL). The processor may be further configured to output the navigation data and the predicted HIL to be used for performance of a required navigation performance (RNP) procedure or a preflight planning procedure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: Keith M. Allen, Vladislav Gavrilets
  • Patent number: 11046451
    Abstract: Systems and methods for determining angle of attack (AOA) for an aircraft are disclosed. In implementations, a kinematic AOA signal and an aerodynamic AOA signal are determined based on measurements received from an airspeed sensor and an inertial reference system (IRS) or attitude and heading reference system (AHRS). The kinematic AOA signal is low pass filtered and the aerodynamic AOA signal is band-pass filtered. A blended AOA signal for the aircraft is then determined by summing the filtered kinematic AOA and aerodynamic AOA signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2021
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: Keith M. Allen, Vladislav Gavrilets
  • Publication number: 20210123740
    Abstract: An aircraft, a system, and a method. The aircraft may include a computing device. The computing device may include a processor. The processor may be configured to utilize inertial navigation data, global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurements, and flight trajectory data to compute navigation data and a predicted horizontal integrity level (HIL). The processor may be further configured to output the navigation data and the predicted HIL to be used for performance of a required navigation performance (RNP) procedure or a preflight planning procedure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 13, 2019
    Publication date: April 29, 2021
    Inventors: Keith M. Allen, Vladislav Gavrilets
  • Patent number: 10332409
    Abstract: A collision avoidance system includes a processor configured to determine first and second positions of an intruder in first and second images, respectively, determine an angular position change of the intruder by comparing the first and second positions, determine a rate of change of a line of sight angle from an aircraft to the intruder based on the angular position change and a time between the first and second images, determine a rate of change of the angular size of the intruder based on a difference in angular size of the intruder from the first to second image and the time between the first and second images, and provide an alert to an operator of the aircraft in response to the ratio of the rate of change of the line of sight angle and the rate of change of the angular size of the intruder being less than a threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2019
    Assignee: ROCKWELL COLLINS, INC.
    Inventors: Vladislav Gavrilets, William T. Kirchner, Keith M. Allen, Allen D. Wu
  • Publication number: 20180090018
    Abstract: A collision avoidance system includes a processor configured to determine first and second positions of an intruder in first and second images, respectively, determine an angular position change of the intruder by comparing the first and second positions, determine a rate of change of a line of sight angle from an aircraft to the intruder based on the angular position change and a time between the first and second images, determine a rate of change of the angular size of the intruder based on a difference in angular size of the intruder from the first to second image and the time between the first and second images, and provide an alert to an operator of the aircraft in response to the ratio of the rate of change of the line of sight angle and the rate of change of the angular size of the intruder being less than a threshold.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2016
    Publication date: March 29, 2018
    Applicant: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: Vladislav Gavrilets, William T. Kirchner, Keith M. Allen, Allen D. Wu
  • Patent number: 9638116
    Abstract: A system for controlling operation of an internal combustion engine includes a controller configured to send signals for controlling at least one of air-fuel ratio, spark-ignition timing, and fuel injection timing to an internal combustion engine. The system further includes a sensor configured to send a signal indicative of exhaust gas temperature to the controller. The system is configured to control at least one of the air-fuel ratio, spark-ignition timing, and fuel injection timing based on a signal indicative of at least one of an operating condition of the internal combustion engine and load on the internal combustion engine, and a difference between a target exhaust gas temperature and the signal indicative of the exhaust gas temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins Control Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: David W. Vos, Michael D. Piedmonte, Gregory E. Mott, Christopher M. Boggs, Keith M. Allen
  • Patent number: 9513130
    Abstract: A registration solution between two or more sets of point cloud data is provided to register a first target set of point cloud data with a second source set of point cloud data. Through error propagation, degrees of freedom masking and transformation filtering, a system may provide an intelligent method of enabling and disabling degrees of freedom in a real-time registration application. A system may adapt to varying environments (feature-rich and featureless) ensuring a high-integrity registration estimate through providing estimates of the observable parameters. By optionally and iteratively masking zero or more degrees of freedom from the registration estimate, a system may locate desirable data to use in a registration estimate. Then, the system may blend updates from the registration estimates to achieve the best available registration solution applied to the original second source set as well as additional sets of point cloud data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2016
    Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher M. Boggs, William T. Kirchner, Keith M. Allen, Gregory J. Kelsey, Yingyue Xu
  • Patent number: 9453731
    Abstract: A system for determining the orientation of a fixture relative to the Earth includes at least one sensor configured to detect a celestial body and provide signals indicative of a plurality of positions of a detected celestial body relative to the sensor over a period of time. The system further includes a processor configured to receive information relating to a time and date associated with the period of time during which the celestial body is detected, and information relating to an expected relationship between the detected celestial body and the Earth at the time and date. The processor is further configured to determine the orientation of the fixture relative to the Earth based on signals from the at least one sensor, and the information relating to the time and date and the expected relationship between the detected celestial body and the Earth at the time and date.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2016
    Assignee: ROCKWELL COLLINS CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: David W. Vos, Vladislav Gavrilets, Damien B. Jourdan, Ben T. Ludington, Allen D. Wu, Keith M. Allen
  • Publication number: 20130325316
    Abstract: A system for determining the orientation of a fixture relative to the Earth includes at least one sensor configured to detect a celestial body and provide signals indicative of a plurality of positions of a detected celestial body relative to the sensor over a period of time. The system further includes a processor configured to receive information relating to a time and date associated with the period of time during which the celestial body is detected, and information relating to an expected relationship between the detected celestial body and the Earth at the time and date. The processor is further configured to determine the orientation of the fixture relative to the Earth based on signals from the at least one sensor, and the information relating to the time and date and the expected relationship between the detected celestial body and the Earth at the time and date.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2012
    Publication date: December 5, 2013
    Inventors: David W. VOS, Vladislav Gavrilets, Damien B. Jourdan, Ben T. Ludington, Allen D. Wu, Keith M. Allen
  • Publication number: 20130245920
    Abstract: A system for controlling operation of an internal combustion engine includes a controller configured to send signals for controlling at least one of air-fuel ratio, spark-ignition timing, and fuel injection timing to an internal combustion engine. The system further includes a sensor configured to send a signal indicative of exhaust gas temperature to the controller. The system is configured to control at least one of the air-fuel ratio, spark-ignition timing, and fuel injection timing based on a signal indicative of at least one of an operating condition of the internal combustion engine and load on the internal combustion engine, and a difference between a target exhaust gas temperature and the signal indicative of the exhaust gas temperature.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 20, 2011
    Publication date: September 19, 2013
    Applicant: ROCKWELL COLLINS CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventors: David W. Vos, Michael D. Piedmonte, Gregory E. Mott, Christopher M. Boggs, Keith M. Allen