Patents by Inventor Martin PFITZER

Martin PFITZER 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: 20240135720
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a method for the detection and determination of the height of objects by means of an environment detection system, including a first environment detection sensor and a second environment detection sensor of a vehicle, wherein at least one of the environment detection sensors is a mono camera. The method includes the following steps: capturing a mono image using the camera; capturing an environment representation using the second environment detection sensor; carrying out object detection in the mono image; carrying out object detection in the environment representation of the second environment detection sensor; measuring the distance from the object in the environment representation of the second environment detection sensor; and carrying out height determination of the detected object.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 27, 2022
    Publication date: April 25, 2024
    Applicant: Continental Autonomous Mobility Germany GmbH
    Inventors: Dieter Krökel, Jonathan Wache, Stefan Heinrich, Martin Pfitzer, Thomas Fechner
  • Patent number: 11876540
    Abstract: Example embodiments relate to an ADAS sensor data processing unit, to an ADAS sensor system and to an ADAS sensor data evaluation method for use in driver assistance systems or systems for the automated driving of a vehicle. The ADAS sensor data processing unit includes an input interface, a decompression module, a processing unit and an output unit. The input interface is designed to receive data of an ADAS sensor that have been subjected to lossy compression by a compression module. The decompression module is designed to decompress the compressed data of the ADAS sensor. The processing unit is designed to process the decompressed data (IdSD) of the ADAS sensor, information relevant to an ADAS/AD function being ascertained from the decompressed sensor data. The output unit is designed to output the ascertained information relevant to the ADAS function.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: Conti Temic microelectronic GmbH
    Inventors: Elias Strigel, Stefan Heinrich, Dieter Krökel, Thomas Fechner, Martin Pfitzer, Robert Thiel
  • Patent number: 11804048
    Abstract: A method and a driver assistance system recognize the intention of a pedestrian to move on the basis of a sequence of images of a camera. The method includes detecting a pedestrian in at least one camera image. The method also includes selecting a camera image that is current at the time t and selecting a predefined selection pattern of previous camera images of the image sequence. The method further includes extracting the image region in which the pedestrian was detected in the selected camera images of the image sequence. The method also includes classifying the movement profile of the detected pedestrian on the basis of the plurality of extracted image regions. The method outputs the class that describes the movement intention determined from the camera images of the image sequence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: Conti Temic microelectronic GmbH
    Inventors: Elias Strigel, Martin Pfitzer, Stefan Heinrich, Manuel du Bois, Felix Hachfeld
  • Publication number: 20230343105
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a method and system for recognizing road users, in particular persons in road traffic The method includes the following steps: recording at least one ambient image or a sequence of ambient images by means of an optical sensor of a vehicle, detecting a person in the ambient image, determining a pose of the detected person; determining a presence of a means of transport of the person; and assigning a movement profile to the person based on the determined means of transport of the person.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 8, 2020
    Publication date: October 26, 2023
    Applicant: Continental Autonomous Mobility Germany GmbH
    Inventors: Martin Pfitzer, Stefan Heinrich, Manuel du Bois, Felix Hachfeld, Elias Strigel
  • Patent number: 11468319
    Abstract: A method of ascertaining disparities in sensor data uses at least one neural network implemented in a controller of a vehicle. The method involves capturing (101) a learning data record from temporally successive raw sensor data, evaluating (102) the learning data record to train the neural network exclusively based on the learning data record of the captured raw sensor data, ascertaining (103) expected sensor data, comparing (104) the ascertained expected sensor data with sensor data currently captured by the sensor arrangement, and ascertaining (105) a disparity between the currently captured sensor data and the ascertained expected sensor data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: CONTI TEMIC MICROELECTRONIC GMBH
    Inventors: Stefan Heinrich, Elias Strigel, Martin Pfitzer, Jan Giebel
  • Publication number: 20220294467
    Abstract: Example embodiments relate to an ADAS sensor data processing unit, to an ADAS sensor system and to an ADAS sensor data evaluation method for use in driver assistance systems or systems for the automated driving of a vehicle. The ADAS sensor data processing unit includes an input interface, a decompression module, a processing unit and an output unit. The input interface is designed to receive data of an ADAS sensor that have been subjected to lossy compression by a compression module. The decompression module is designed to decompress the compressed data of the ADAS sensor. The processing unit is designed to process the decompressed data (IdSD) of the ADAS sensor, information relevant to an ADAS/AD function being ascertained from the decompressed sensor data. The output unit is designed to output the ascertained information relevant to the ADAS function.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 16, 2020
    Publication date: September 15, 2022
    Applicant: Conti Temic microelectronic GmbH
    Inventors: Elias Strigel, Stefan Heinrich, Dieter Krökel, Thomas Fechner, Martin Pfitzer, Robert Thiel
  • Patent number: 11341753
    Abstract: A method for detecting the presence of an emergency vehicle includes receiving a plurality of image frames over a period of time, determining an EV colour component for each image frame based on the ratio of a first colour relative to the total colour in each pixel and assigning to a pixel a first value if the EV colour component exceeds a predefined threshold value and a second value if the EV colour component does not, and determining for an EV colour value for the first colour based on the sum of all of the first values for each image frame. The method also includes generating a time domain representation, converting the time domain representation for the plurality of image frames to a frequency spectrum, and determining if any flashing light sources of the first colour associated with one or more types of emergency vehicles is present.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE GMBH
    Inventors: Vishnu Vardhana Asvatha Narayanan, Sreekanth Velladath, Sriram Natarajan, Sri Hari Bhupala Haribhakta, Elias Strigel, Martin Pfitzer
  • Publication number: 20210150193
    Abstract: A method and a driver assistance system recognize the intention of a pedestrian to move on the basis of a sequence of images of a camera. The method includes detecting a pedestrian in at least one camera image. The method also includes selecting a camera image that is current at the time t and selecting a predefined selection pattern of previous camera images of the image sequence. The method further includes extracting the image region in which the pedestrian was detected in the selected camera images of the image sequence. The method also includes classifying the movement profile of the detected pedestrian on the basis of the plurality of extracted image regions. The method outputs the class that describes the movement intention determined from the camera images of the image sequence.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 29, 2021
    Publication date: May 20, 2021
    Applicant: Conti Temic microelectronic GmbH
    Inventors: Elias Strigel, Martin Pfitzer, Stefan Heinrich, Manuel du Bois, Felix Hachfeld
  • Publication number: 20210089797
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for detecting beacons (4) in the surroundings of an ego vehicle (5), comprising the steps of: capturing (S1) a sequence of camera images (1) of a section of the surroundings by means of a-camera system (6) of the ego vehicle (5), detecting (S2) bright light spots in the recorded camera image (1), cutting out (S3) regions (3) containing the detected bright light spots in the camera image (1), classifying (S4) the cut-out regions (3), classing (S5) the bright light spots as beacons (4) if the classified bright light spots are detected repeatedly and therefore a threshold value of a counter is exceeded.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 8, 2019
    Publication date: March 25, 2021
    Inventors: Elias STRIGEL, Martin PFITZER, Stefan HEINRICH, Dieter KROEKEL
  • Publication number: 20210064980
    Abstract: A method of ascertaining disparities in sensor data uses at least one neural network implemented in a controller of a vehicle. The method involves capturing (101) a learning data record from temporally successive raw sensor data, evaluating (102) the learning data record to train the neural network exclusively based on the learning data record of the captured raw sensor data, ascertaining (103) expected sensor data, comparing (104) the ascertained expected sensor data with sensor data currently captured by the sensor arrangement, and ascertaining (105) a disparity between the currently captured sensor data and the ascertained expected sensor data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 26, 2018
    Publication date: March 4, 2021
    Inventors: Stefan HEINRICH, Elias STRIGEL, Martin PFITZER, Jan GIEBEL
  • Patent number: 10798319
    Abstract: A camera device includes an optronics system and an image capture control unit, for acquiring a sequence of images of a surrounding region of a vehicle. The optronics system includes a wide-angle optical system and a high-resolution image acquisition sensor. The optronics system and the image capture control unit are configured to generate a reduced-resolution binned image of the entire capture region of the optronics system, or to capture an unbinned high-resolution image of a subregion of the capture region, respectively for each individual image of the sequence of images, depending on a current traffic and/or surrounding situation. A height and a width of the subregion are set depending on the current situation. A size of the subregion is set such that the pixel count of the high-resolution image of the subregion is no greater than the pixel count of the reduced-resolution image of the entire capture region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2020
    Assignee: Conti Temic microelectronic GmbH
    Inventors: Karsten Breuer, Dieter Kroekel, Robert Thiel, Martin Pfitzer
  • Publication number: 20200110949
    Abstract: A method for detecting the presence of an emergency vehicle includes receiving a plurality of image frames over a period of time, determining an EV colour component for each image frame based on the ratio of a first colour relative to the total colour in each pixel and assigning to a pixel a first value if the EV colour component exceeds a predefined threshold value and a second value if the EV colour component does not, and determining for an EV colour value for the first colour based on the sum of all of the first values for each image frame. The method also includes generating a time domain representation, converting the time domain representation for the plurality of image frames to a frequency spectrum, and determining if any flashing light sources of the first colour associated with one or more types of emergency vehicles is present.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 3, 2019
    Publication date: April 9, 2020
    Inventors: Vishnu Vardhana Asvatha Narayanan, Sreekanth Velladath, Sriram Natarajan, Sri Hari Bhupala Haribhakta, Elias Strigel, Martin Pfitzer
  • Publication number: 20190281235
    Abstract: The invention relates to a camera device for capturing a surrounding region of an ego-vehicle. The camera device comprises an optronics system and an image capture control unit, which are configured to acquire a sequence of images of the surrounding region. The optronics system comprises a wide-angle optical system and a high-resolution image acquisition sensor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 11, 2017
    Publication date: September 12, 2019
    Inventors: Karsten BREUER, Dieter KROEKEL, Robert THIEL, Martin PFITZER