Patents by Inventor Matthew Paul Bell
Matthew Paul Bell 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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Patent number: 11163314Abstract: Systems and methods are provided herein for mitigating contentions between mobile drive units (MDUs) within a workspace. A schedule may be generated that identifies execution steps associated with respective tasks to be performed by each of a plurality of mobile drive units (MDUs) within the workspace. A contention related to a first execution step associated with a first mobile drive unit (MDU) and a second execution step associated with a second MDU may be identified. The schedule may be altered to include an indication of the contention. It may be determined that the first MDU is at the location of the contention. Accordingly, the contended space may be reserved for the first MDU, and the schedule may be modified to restrict the second MDU from executing the second execution step until the first MDU has completed the execution of the first execution step.Type: GrantFiled: February 27, 2018Date of Patent: November 2, 2021Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.Inventor: Matthew Paul Bell
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Patent number: 10877564Abstract: Approaches are described which enable a computing device (e.g., mobile phone, tablet computer) to display alternate views or layers of information within a window on the display screen when a user's finger (or other object) is detected to be within a particular range of the display screen of the device. For example, a device displaying a road map view on the display screen may detect a user's finger near the screen and, in response to detecting the finger, render a small window that shows a portion of a satellite view of the map proximate to the location of the user's finger. As the user's finger moves laterally above the screen, the window can follow the location of the user's finger and display the satellite views of the various portions of the map over which the user's finger passes.Type: GrantFiled: February 15, 2016Date of Patent: December 29, 2020Assignee: AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC.Inventors: Matthew Paul Bell, Dong Zhou, Guenael Thomas Strutt, Isaac Scott Noble, Stephen Michael Polansky, Jason Robert Weber
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Patent number: 10755227Abstract: Systems and methods described herein pertain to maintaining a virtual representation of a workspace in a material handling system and updating the virtual representation. Methods described include maintaining the virtual representation of a material handling grid, maintaining one or more clients operable to direct movement of the plurality of drive units in the workspace; receiving an instruction to update the virtual representation of the drive-unit navigable grid including an updated virtual representation of the workspace; and querying a subset of the one or more clients to determine whether the update to the virtual representation would cause one conflicts within the workspace. Potential conflicts include, but are not limited to, “stranded” resources which are no longer positioned on the material handling grid, and/or workstations that have not yet been suspended prior to the update.Type: GrantFiled: August 30, 2017Date of Patent: August 25, 2020Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Aayush Aggarwal, Vishnu Ayyagari, Matthew Paul Bell, Sarfraz Banglawala, James Plumley
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Patent number: 10126747Abstract: In one example, an intersection of a first path and a second path may be determined. The first path may be associated with a first mobile drive unit and the second path may be associated with a second mobile drive unit. A plurality of velocity sets may be determined based on the intersection. A velocity set may be selected from the plurality of velocity sets. The velocity set may include velocity values that correspond to the first mobile drive unit and the second mobile drive unit. The selected velocity set may be provided to at least one of the first mobile drive unit or the second mobile drive unit.Type: GrantFiled: September 29, 2015Date of Patent: November 13, 2018Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Petr Svec, Matthew Paul Bell, Michael T. Barbehenn
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Patent number: 10019140Abstract: Approaches are described for managing a display of content on a computing device. Content (e.g., images, application data, etc.) is displayed on an interface of the device. An activation movement performed by a user (e.g., a double-tap) can cause the device to enable a content view control mode (such as a zoom control mode) that can be used to adjust a portion of the content being displayed on the interface. The activation movement can also be used to set an area of interest and display a graphical element indicating that the content view control mode is activated. In response to a motion being detected (e.g., a forward tilt or backward of the device), the device can adjust a portion of the content being displayed on the interface, such as displaying a “zoomed-in” portion or a “zoomed-out” portion of the image.Type: GrantFiled: June 26, 2014Date of Patent: July 10, 2018Assignee: AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC.Inventors: Matthew Paul Bell, Peter Cheng, Stephen Michael Polansky, Amber Nalu, Alexander Li Honda, Yi Ding, David Wayne Stafford, Kenneth Mark Karakotsios
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Publication number: 20180046434Abstract: Systems and approaches are provided for presenting incoming notifications to a computing device based on a determined context of the computing device. Various sensors of the device can be used to determine the context of the device with respect to a user, the state of the device itself, or the context of the device with respect to the environment in which the device is situated. The user can then be informed of received notifications in a manner likely to get the user's attention while not being overly obtrusive to the user or others within the vicinity of the user.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 28, 2017Publication date: February 15, 2018Inventors: Isaac Scott Noble, Matthew Paul Bell, Guenael Thomas Strutt
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Patent number: 9747072Abstract: Systems and approaches are provided for presenting incoming notifications to a computing device based on a determined context of the computing device. Various sensors of the device can be used to determine the context of the device with respect to a user, the state of the device itself, or the context of the device with respect to the environment in which the device is situated. The user can then be informed of received notifications in a manner likely to get the user's attention while not being overly obtrusive to the user or others within the vicinity of the user.Type: GrantFiled: October 17, 2016Date of Patent: August 29, 2017Assignee: AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC.Inventors: Isaac Scott Noble, Matthew Paul Bell, Guenael Thomas Strutt
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Publication number: 20170102916Abstract: Systems and approaches are provided for presenting incoming notifications to a computing device based on a determined context of the computing device. Various sensors of the device can be used to determine the context of the device with respect to a user, the state of the device itself, or the context of the device with respect to the environment in which the device is situated. The user can then be informed of received notifications in a manner likely to get the user's attention while not being overly obtrusive to the user or others within the vicinity of the user.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 17, 2016Publication date: April 13, 2017Inventors: Isaac Scott Noble, Matthew Paul Bell, Guenael Thomas Strutt
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Patent number: 9471141Abstract: Systems and approaches are provided for presenting incoming notifications to a computing device based on a determined context of the computing device. Various sensors of the device can be used to determine the context of the device with respect to a user, the state of the device itself, or the context of the device with respect to the environment in which the device is situated. The user can then be informed of received notifications in a manner likely to get the user's attention while not being overly obtrusive to the user or others within the vicinity of the user.Type: GrantFiled: July 6, 2015Date of Patent: October 18, 2016Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Isaac Scott Noble, Matthew Paul Bell, Guenael Thomas Strutt
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Publication number: 20160209930Abstract: Approaches are described which enable a computing device (e.g., mobile phone, tablet computer) to display alternate views or layers of information within a window on the display screen when a user's finger (or other object) is detected to be within a particular range of the display screen of the device. For example, a device displaying a road map view on the display screen may detect a user's finger near the screen and, in response to detecting the finger, render a small window that shows a portion of a satellite view of the map proximate to the location of the user's finger. As the user's finger moves laterally above the screen, the window can follow the location of the user's finger and display the satellite views of the various portions of the map over which the user's finger passes.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 15, 2016Publication date: July 21, 2016Inventors: Matthew Paul Bell, Dong Zhou, Guenael Thomas Strutt, Isaac Scott Noble, Stephen Michael Polansky, Jason Robert Weber
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Patent number: 9384551Abstract: An electronic device can have two or more pairs of cameras capable of performing three-dimensional imaging. In order to provide accurate disparity information, these cameras should be sufficiently rectified. Automatic rectification can be performed by periodically capturing images with the cameras of interest, and locating matching feature points in corresponding images captured by those cameras. Small misalignment errors can be treated as linear translations, such that a set of linear equations can be used to solve for the misalignments. Another process can process a set of homographies for the cameras until a cost function converges. Various other approaches can be used as well, such as to directly solve for yaw, pitch, and roll errors. Once this information is obtained, the misalignment values (or related values) can be stored for use in correcting images subsequently captured by those cameras.Type: GrantFiled: April 8, 2013Date of Patent: July 5, 2016Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Sharadh Ramaswamy, Matthew Paul Bell, Dmitri Khoklov, David W. Stafford, Isaac Scott Noble
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Patent number: 9377860Abstract: Approaches are described for providing input to a portable computing device, such as a mobile phone. A user's hand can be detected based on data (e.g., one or more images) obtained by at least one sensor of the device, such as camera, and the images can be analyzed to locate the hand of the user. As part of the location computation, the device can determine a motion being performed by the hand of the user, and the device can determine a gesture corresponding to the motion. In the situation where the device is controlling a media player capable of playing media content, the gesture can be interpreted by the device to cause the device to, e.g., pause a media track or perform another function with respect to the media content being presented via the device.Type: GrantFiled: December 19, 2012Date of Patent: June 28, 2016Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Jason Robert Weber, Matthew Paul Bell, Isaac Scott Noble, Guenael Thomas Strutt, Stephen Michael Polansky, Dong Zhou
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Patent number: 9288594Abstract: A computing device can capture audio data representative of audio content present in a current environment. The captured audio data can be compared with audio models to locate a matching audio model. The matching audio model can be associated with an environment. The current environment can be identified based on the environment associated with the matching audio model. In some embodiments, information about the identified current environment can be provided to at least one application executing on the computing device. The at least one the application can be configured to adjust at least one functional aspect based at least in part upon the determined current environment. In some embodiments, one or more computing tasks performed by the computing device can be improved based on information relating to the identified current environment. These computing tasks can include location refinement, location classification, and speech recognition.Type: GrantFiled: December 17, 2012Date of Patent: March 15, 2016Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Stephen Michael Polansky, Yuzo Watanabe, Matthew Paul Bell
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Patent number: 9262067Abstract: Approaches are described which enable a computing device (e.g., mobile phone, tablet computer) to display alternate views or layers of information within a window on the display screen when a user's finger (or other object) is detected to be within a particular range of the display screen of the device. For example, a device displaying a road map view on the display screen may detect a user's finger near the screen and, in response to detecting the finger, render a small window that shows a portion of a satellite view of the map proximate to the location of the user's finger. As the user's finger moves laterally above the screen, the window can follow the location of the user's finger and display the satellite views of the various portions of the map over which the user's finger passes.Type: GrantFiled: December 10, 2012Date of Patent: February 16, 2016Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Matthew Paul Bell, Dong Zhou, Guenael Thomas Strutt, Isaac Scott Noble, Stephen Michael Polansky, Jason Robert Weber
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Publication number: 20160026261Abstract: An electronic device can be configured to enable a user to provide input via a tap of the device without the use of touch sensors (e.g., resistive, capacitive, ultrasonic or other acoustic, infrared or other optical, or piezoelectric touch technologies) and/or mechanical switches. Such a device can include other sensors, including inertial sensors (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, or a combination thereof), microphones, proximity sensors, ambient light sensors, and/or cameras, among others, that can be used to capture respective sensor data. Feature values with respect to the respective sensor data can be extracted, and the feature values can be analyzed using machine learning to determine when the user has tapped on the electronic device. Detection of a single tap or multiple taps performed on the electronic device can be utilized to control the device.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 24, 2014Publication date: January 28, 2016Inventors: Peter Cheng, Steven Scott Noble, Matthew Paul Bell, Yi Ding, Stephen Michael Polansky, Alexander Li Honda
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Patent number: 9235278Abstract: An electronic device can be configured to enable a user to provide input via a tap of the device without the use of touch sensors (e.g., resistive, capacitive, ultrasonic or other acoustic, infrared or other optical, or piezoelectric touch technologies) and/or mechanical switches. Such a device can include other sensors, including inertial sensors (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, or a combination thereof), microphones, proximity sensors, ambient light sensors, and/or cameras, among others, that can be used to capture respective sensor data. Feature values with respect to the respective sensor data can be extracted, and the feature values can be analyzed using machine learning to determine when the user has tapped on the electronic device. Detection of a single tap or multiple taps performed on the electronic device can be utilized to control the device.Type: GrantFiled: July 24, 2014Date of Patent: January 12, 2016Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Peter Cheng, Steven Scott Noble, Matthew Paul Bell, Yi Ding, Stephen Michael Polansky, Alexander Li Honda
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Patent number: 9110541Abstract: Touch-based input to a computing device can be improved by providing a mechanism to lock or reduce the effects of motion in unintended directions. In one example, a user can navigate in two dimensions, then provide a gesture-based locking action through motion in a third dimension. If a computing device analyzing the gesture is able to detect the locking action, the device can limit motion outside the corresponding third dimension, or lock an interface object for selection, in order to ensure that the proper touch-based input selection is received. Various thresholds, values, or motions can be used to limit motion in one or more axes for any appropriate purpose as discussed herein.Type: GrantFiled: March 14, 2013Date of Patent: August 18, 2015Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Dong Zhou, Jason Robert Weber, Matthew Paul Bell, Stephen Michael Polansky, Guenael Thomas Strutt, Isaac Scott Noble
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Patent number: 9075435Abstract: Systems and approaches are provided for presenting incoming notifications to a computing device based on a determined context of the computing device. Various sensors of the device can be used to determine the context of the device with respect to a user, the state of the device itself, or the context of the device with respect to the environment in which the device is situated. The user can then be informed of received notifications in a manner likely to get the user's attention while not being overly obtrusive to the user or others within the vicinity of the user.Type: GrantFiled: April 22, 2013Date of Patent: July 7, 2015Assignee: AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC.Inventors: Isaac Scott Noble, Matthew Paul Bell, Guenael Thomas Strutt
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Patent number: 9058674Abstract: A computing device can capture an image using a camera of the device. The computing device can also determine or receive an image property (i.e., information related to the image). The device can transmit the image and the information related to the image to a network service. The network service can communicate with an image patch library which includes a plurality of image patches. The network service can select a subset of image patches from the library based on the information related to the image. The network service can compare image portions of the image to the image patches in the subset to determine one or more image patches that match one or more image portions. In some embodiments, the one or more image patches can have corresponding higher resolution versions. The network service can modify image portions of the image using available higher resolution versions of matching image patches.Type: GrantFiled: March 15, 2013Date of Patent: June 16, 2015Assignee: AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC.Inventors: Isaac Scott Noble, Matthew Paul Bell