Patents by Inventor Markus Birk
Markus Birk 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).
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Publication number: 20250340414Abstract: A method for controlling an industrial truck in a warehouse includes reading-in (S1) a point cloud of the warehouse is the surroundings of the industrial truck, wherein the point cloud read in contains point information of at least one object present in the surroundings, converting (S3) the point information into a frequency distribution of the point information, determining (S4) a statistical distribution parameter of the point information in the frequency distribution, classification (S5) of the object as a person or as a warehouse technology object on the basis of the statistical distribution parameter, and emitting (S6) a control signal to control the industrial truck in the warehouse on the basis of the result of the classification in the classification step (S5). The invention also describes a control unit for carrying out the method and an industrial truck with a control unit of that type.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 22, 2023Publication date: November 6, 2025Applicant: ZF Friedrichshafen AGInventors: Gabriela Jager, Michael Walter, Markus Birk, Stefan Traub
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Publication number: 20250334156Abstract: Disclosed is a method for determining a vehicle clutch temperature of a vehicle clutch by a neuron network. The method includes determining at least one input value representing a power supplied to the vehicle clutch, such that the at least one input value is determined on the basis of processing consecutive values of power supplied to the vehicle clutch. At least one input value and at least one value of an operating parameter are input as input data into the neuron network. A clutch temperature is determined by the neuron network on the basis of the input data and of a relationship learned by the neuron network between a time variation of the input data and the clutch temperature. A method is also disclosed for generating a training data set for a neuron network, and a control unit for determining a vehicle clutch temperature using a neuron network.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 25, 2023Publication date: October 30, 2025Applicant: ZF Friedrichshafen AGInventors: Markus Birk, Steffen Biel, Thomas Hodrius
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Patent number: 12332651Abstract: A control method for a vehicle (101) in which the vehicle (101) is controlled manually while sensor data, from at least one sensor of the vehicle (101), is collected and stored. Then the vehicle (101) is controlled autonomously while sensor data, from the at least one sensor is detected and matched to the stored sensor data.Type: GrantFiled: May 6, 2021Date of Patent: June 17, 2025Assignee: ZF Friedrichshafen AGInventors: Andreas Heinzler, Carolin Heller, Markus Birk, Gabriela Jager
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Publication number: 20250019932Abstract: A method for carrying out action instructions with a working machine includes determining whether the orientation of the action instruction matches the driving direction of the working machine; determining an absolute distance between the working machine and the action instruction concerned on the basis of the position of the working machine and the respective position of the action instruction; determining, for action instructions with an absolute distance smaller than a first pre-definable value, a relative distance between the working machine and the action instruction concerned in the driving direction of the working machine and transversely to the driving direction; and actuating, for action instructions with a relative distance which is smaller than a second pre-defined value, an external control unit for carrying out the action instruction concerned. A control unit and a working machine are also disclosed.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 19, 2022Publication date: January 16, 2025Applicant: ZF Friedrichshafen AGInventors: Dieter Balz, Markus Birk, Raphael Gonzalez, Gabriela Jager, Udo Brehmer
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Patent number: 11940807Abstract: A method for controlling a utility vehicle includes detecting, via a sensor, an elevation profile of a region located in front of the utility vehicle in the direction of travel. The method also includes initializing a grid comprising a plurality of grid cells. The grid extends at least in a longitudinal direction and in a vertical direction of the region. The method further includes assigning the detected elevation profile to associated grid cells by writing elevation profile data into grid cells and controlling the vehicle based on the elevation profile data.Type: GrantFiled: January 14, 2020Date of Patent: March 26, 2024Assignee: ZF FRIEDRICHSHAFEN AGInventor: Markus Birk
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Publication number: 20220414893Abstract: The invention relates to a method for recognizing a tilting movement of a vehicle having at least one camera installed on the vehicle The method includes recording an image sequence by the camera, determining an optical flow of the image sequence, determining an optical flow to be expected on the grounds of a travel movement of the vehicle and a topography of the underlying surface, and checking of the optical flow of the image sequence and of the expected optical flow for deviations. A vehicle adapted to perform the method is also disclosed.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 9, 2020Publication date: December 29, 2022Applicant: ZF Friedrichshafen AGInventors: Markus Birk, Gabriela Jager, Dieter Balz
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Patent number: 11472415Abstract: An arrangement determines a gradient signal in a vehicle. The arrangement has: a position capture device that determines a vehicle position at a first and second time and ascertains therefrom a distance traveled as a motion vector, and a laser distance sensor on the vehicle front at an angle to a vehicle longitudinal axis and configured to emit a laser beam in a direction of a first measuring point in front of the vehicle at the first and second time, and a length sensor to ascertain the length of the laser beam and its associated vector at the first and second time, and at least one detection device to ascertain a differential vector from the motion vector and the ascertained vectors and to form a gradient signal therefrom.Type: GrantFiled: February 7, 2018Date of Patent: October 18, 2022Assignee: ZF FRIEDRICHSHAFEN AGInventors: Daniel Wolf, Markus Birk, Mauro Cesar Zanella
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Publication number: 20220147054Abstract: A method for controlling a utility vehicle includes detecting, via a sensor, an elevation profile of a region located in front of the utility vehicle in the direction of travel. The method also includes initializing a grid comprising a plurality of grid cells. The grid extends at least in a longitudinal direction and in a vertical direction of the region. The method further includes assigning the detected elevation profile to associated grid cells by writing elevation profile data into grid cells and controlling the vehicle based on the elevation profile data.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 14, 2020Publication date: May 12, 2022Inventor: Markus Birk
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Publication number: 20210356969Abstract: A control method for a vehicle (101) in which the vehicle (101) is controlled manually while sensor data, from at least one sensor of the vehicle (101), is collected and stored. Then the vehicle (101) is controlled autonomously while sensor data, from the at least one sensor is detected and matched to the stored sensor data.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 6, 2021Publication date: November 18, 2021Inventors: Andreas HEINZLER, Carolin HELLER, Markus BIRK, Gabriela JAGER
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Publication number: 20210195822Abstract: A method for operating an agricultural machine includes applying provided machine data of a work flow along a working route for an autonomous operation of the agricultural machine. The provided machine data includes a plurality of data sets. The method further includes recording, during the autonomous operation of the agricultural machine, a working position of the agricultural machine, and selecting and applying, as a function of the detected working position, a respective data set from the plurality of data sets of the provided machine data as a function of the detected working position.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 10, 2018Publication date: July 1, 2021Inventors: Markus Birk, Luis Fernando Guerreiro, Diogo Garcia de Freitas, Tiago Kazunori Nagy, Mauro Cesar Zanella
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Publication number: 20200132844Abstract: An arrangement determines a gradient signal in a vehicle. The arrangement has: a position capture device that determines a vehicle position at a first and second time and ascertains therefrom a distance traveled as a motion vector, and a laser distance sensor on the vehicle front at an angle to a vehicle longitudinal axis and configured to emit a laser beam in a direction of a first measuring point in front of the vehicle at the first and second time, and a length sensor to ascertain the length of the laser beam and its associated vector at the first and second time, and at least one detection device to ascertain a differential vector from the motion vector and the ascertained vectors and to form a gradient signal therefrom.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 7, 2018Publication date: April 30, 2020Inventors: Daniel Wolf, Markus Birk, Mauro Cesar Zanella