Patents by Inventor Kenichi Kitahama

Kenichi Kitahama 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: 20120123637
    Abstract: Disclosed is a mover spectrum measuring apparatus, which is able to discriminate an object being measured more reliably by relieving the influences of an environmental light on photographic data by a spectrum sensor mounted on a mover such as a vehicle. A spectrum sensor capable of measuring wavelength information and optical intensity information is mounted on a vehicle, so that an object being measured around the vehicle is discriminated on the basis of the spectrum data relating to the observation light detected by the spectrum sensor. The mover spectrum measuring apparatus comprises an illumination device for making variable the featuring quantity of at least either the wavelength range of the observation light or the optical intensity of each wavelength, and controls the featuring quantity varying mode by the illumination device through an illumination controller on the basis of the control value according to an environmental element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2009
    Publication date: May 17, 2012
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Ryuji Funayama, Shinya Kawamata, Masato Endo, Yasukata Yokochi, Yasuhiro Yoshida, Kenichi Kitahama
  • Publication number: 20120113412
    Abstract: Provided is a moveable spectrum measuring apparatus capable of improving discrimination precision of a measuring object on the basis of observation data from a spectrum sensor mounted on a movable apparatus such as a vehicle. A measuring object and a reference body are irradiated with ambient light. A spectrum acquiring device acquires measuring object data indicating the spectrum of the measuring object, and reference body data indicating the spectrum of the reference body to become a reference at the time when the spectrum of the measuring object is corrected. A spectrum converting device has reference body reflectivity data indicating the surface reflectivity of the reference body, and creates ambient light data indicating the spectrum of the ambient light, on the basis of the reference body reflectivity data and the reference body data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2009
    Publication date: May 10, 2012
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shinya Kawamata, Ryuji Funayama, Yasuhiro Yoshida, Yasukata Yokochi, Masato Endo, Toshiki Kindo, Kenichi Kitahama
  • Publication number: 20120113425
    Abstract: Provided is a movable body spectrum measuring apparatus, which can discriminate a measuring object with high precision by photographic data from a spectrum sensor mounted on a movable body such as a vehicle and can process the photographic data in real time. A movable body spectrum measuring apparatus discriminates the measuring object around a vehicle on the basis of the spectrum data from an observation light. A spectrum sensor can measure wavelength information and light intensity information. The movable body spectrum measuring apparatus comprises a dictionary data storing unit storing, as dictionary data, the spectrum data containing the wavelength information and the light intensity information regarding a plurality of predetermined measuring objects, and an arithmetic device for discriminating the measuring object on the basis of comparison computation to compare the spectrum data of the observation light and the spectrum data stored in the dictionary data storing unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2009
    Publication date: May 10, 2012
    Applicant: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masato Endo, Shinya Kawamata, Ryuji Funayama, Yasukata Yokochi, Yasuhiro Yoshida, Kenichi Kitahama
  • Publication number: 20120105846
    Abstract: Disclosed is a spectrum measuring apparatus for shortening such a measurement time period for an object being measured including two or more mutually different measurement portions as is required for the spectrum measurements of the lights from individual measurement portions. The spectrum measuring apparatus comprises a slit group having two or more slits, a spectroscope for separating the lights extracted by the slit group, for the individual slits, and a measuring unit for measuring the intensities of the individual components, which are separated by the spectroscope, for the slits. The individual slits extract such ones of the lights coming from an object being measured including two or more mutually different measurement portions, as come from the individual measurement portions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2009
    Publication date: May 3, 2012
    Applicant: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Ryuji Funayama, Shinya Kawamata, Yasukata Yokochi, Masato Endo, Yasuhiro Yoshida, Kenichi Kitahama
  • Publication number: 20120022716
    Abstract: A movement trajectory generator 1 that generates a movement trajectory of a vehicle is provided, which includes traveling environment recognition means 10, 11, and 21 for recognizing a traveling environment, movement strategy generation means 22 for generating movement strategies for positioning in a road area according to the traveling environment that is recognized by the traveling environment recognition means, presenting means 12, 23, and 27 for presenting a passenger setting information of the movement strategies, setting means 12 and 28 for receiving an operation for the passenger to set the movement strategies based on the setting information of the movement strategies presented by the presenting means, and movement trajectory generation means 29 for generating the movement trajectory based on the movement strategies set by the setting means.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 26, 2010
    Publication date: January 26, 2012
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kenichi Kitahama, Shinya Kawamata, Toshiyuki Matsubara
  • Publication number: 20110118939
    Abstract: Traveling environment information, which is information on a traveling environment around a vehicle, is obtained. If the automation level of the vehicle, which is set according to the traveling environment information, is decreased, the driving assistance level is decreased in a stepwise manner to execute a driving assistance control.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2009
    Publication date: May 19, 2011
    Applicant: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shinya Kawamata, Kenichi Kitahama
  • Publication number: 20100063627
    Abstract: When an autonomous mobile apparatus moves autonomously along near a master and there is an object in the surrounding environment recognized by a camera and a communication device and the like, a danger level detecting portion detects a danger level of the object to the master, and an actuator controlling portion and an electric motor move the autonomous mobile apparatus based on the danger level. As a result, the autonomous mobile apparatus moves autonomously along near the master, as well as detects the danger level to the master and moves based on the danger level. Accordingly, the autonomous mobile apparatus can move in a manner so as to ensure the safety of the master taking this danger level into account.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 13, 2008
    Publication date: March 11, 2010
    Applicant: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kenichi Kitahama
  • Publication number: 20100027847
    Abstract: A motion estimating device first detects mobile objects Oi and Oi? in continuous image frames T and T?, and acquires image areas Ri and Ri? corresponding to the mobile objects Oi and Oi?. Then, the motion estimating device removes the image areas Ri and Ri? corresponding to the mobile objects Oi and Oi? in the image frames T and T?, extracts corresponding point pairs Pj of feature points between the image frames T and T? from the image areas having removed the image areas Ri and Ri?, and carries out the motion estimation of the autonomous mobile machine between the image frames T and T? on the basis of the positional relationship of the corresponding point pairs Pj of feature points.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 22, 2009
    Publication date: February 4, 2010
    Applicants: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Andreas Ess, Bastian Leibe, Konrad Schindler, Luc Van Gool, Kenichi Kitahama, Ryuji Funayama