Patents by Inventor Satoru Shimizu

Satoru Shimizu 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: 10372133
    Abstract: [Object] To provide a control device that can make more efficient an inspection performed by a flying body capable of performing imaging. [Solution] Provided is a control device including an acquisition unit configured to acquire information related to an overview of a structure, and a flight information generating unit configured to generate flight information of a flying body being caused to fly over a periphery of the structure to image the structure on the basis of the information acquired by the acquisition unit. The control device generates information used to cause the flying body to image the structure, and thereby makes it possible to make more efficient the inspection performed by the flying body capable of performing imaging.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kayoko Tanaka, Kohtaro Sabe, Miki Shibuya, Tsutomu Sawada, Satoru Shimizu, Kousuke Suzuki, Haruto Takeda, Peter Duerr, Masaomi Nabeta, Takekazu Kakinuma, Hironari Mizumura
  • Patent number: 10293484
    Abstract: Provided is a robot device including a drive unit including a plurality of links and joints connecting the links, a task instruction input unit for inputting an instruction of a task, a drive control unit for controlling an operation of the drive unit on the basis of the input task and determining a restricted area including a space necessary for the operation of the drive unit, and an area display unit for displaying the restricted area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2019
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Wataru Kokubo, Tetsuharu Fukushima, Masakuni Nagano, Satoru Shimizu
  • Patent number: 10293487
    Abstract: Provided is a robot device including an image input unit for inputting an image of surroundings, a target object detection unit for detecting an object from the input image, an object position detection unit for detecting a position of the object, an environment information acquisition unit for acquiring surrounding environment information of the position of the object, an optimum posture acquisition unit for acquiring an optimum posture corresponding to the surrounding environment information for the object, an object posture detection unit for detecting a current posture of the object from the input image, an object posture comparison unit for comparing the current posture of the object to the optimum posture of the object, and an object posture correction unit for correcting the posture of the object when the object posture comparison unit determines that there is a predetermined difference or more between the current posture and the optimum posture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2019
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Satoru Shimizu, Kenta Kawamoto, Yoshiaki Iwai
  • Publication number: 20190137274
    Abstract: Provided is a device including: an acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a position estimation system selected from among a plurality of position estimation systems for estimating a position of a flight vehicle; and a position estimation unit that estimates the position of the flight vehicle from first information generated by using an inertial sensor of the flight vehicle and second information generated through the position estimation system based on a parameter for the position estimation system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 31, 2018
    Publication date: May 9, 2019
    Inventors: KOHTARO SABE, HARUTO TAKEDA, PETER DUERR, SATORU SHIMIZU, TSUTOMU SAWADA, KOUSUKE SUZUKI
  • Publication number: 20190126467
    Abstract: A control system, method and computer program product cooperate to assist control for an autonomous robot. An interface receives recognition information from an autonomous robot, said recognition information including candidate target objects to interact with the autonomous robot. A display control unit causes a display image to be displayed on a display of candidate target objects, wherein at least two of the candidate target objects are displayed with an associated indication of a target object score.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 20, 2018
    Publication date: May 2, 2019
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Kenta Kawamoto, Yoshiaki Iwai, Satoru Shimizu
  • Publication number: 20190105771
    Abstract: A control system, method and computer program product cooperate to assist control for an autonomous robot. An interface receives recognition information from an autonomous robot, said recognition information including candidate target objects to interact with the autonomous robot. A display control unit causes a display image to be displayed on as display of candidate target objects, wherein at least two of the candidate target objects are displayed with an associated indication of a target object score.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2018
    Publication date: April 11, 2019
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Kenta Kawamoto, Yoshiaki Iwai, Satoru Shimizu
  • Patent number: 10203208
    Abstract: [Object] To make it possible to more favorably estimate the position of a flight vehicle. [Solution] Provided is a device including: an acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a position estimation system selected from among a plurality of position estimation systems for estimating a position of a flight vehicle; and a position estimation unit that estimates the position of the flight vehicle from first information generated by using an inertial sensor of the flight vehicle and second information generated through the position estimation system based on a parameter for the position estimation system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2019
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kohtaro Sabe, Haruto Takeda, Peter Duerr, Satoru Shimizu, Tsutomu Sawada, Kousuke Suzuki
  • Publication number: 20190037141
    Abstract: There is provided a control device including an image display unit configured to acquire, from a flying body, an image captured by an imaging device provided in the flying body and to display the image, and a flight instruction generation unit configured to generate a flight instruction for the flying body based on content of an operation performed with respect to the image captured by the imaging device and displayed by the image display unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 30, 2018
    Publication date: January 31, 2019
    Applicant: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kohtaro SABE, Yasunori KAWANAMI, Kenta KAWAMOTO, Tsutomu SAWADA, Satoru SHIMIZU, Peter DUERR, Yuki YAMAMOTO
  • Patent number: 10104297
    Abstract: There is provided a control device including an image display unit configured to acquire, from a flying body, an image captured by an imaging device provided in the flying body and to display the image, and a flight instruction generation unit configured to generate a flight instruction for the flying body based on content of an operation performed with respect to the image captured by the imaging device and displayed by the image display unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kohtaro Sabe, Yasunori Kawanami, Kenta Kawamoto, Tsutomu Sawada, Satoru Shimizu, Peter Duerr, Yuki Yamamoto
  • Publication number: 20180259652
    Abstract: There is provided an information processing system including: a plurality of survey markers each including a GNSS reception unit that receives a signal from a GNSS satellite; a first position measurement unit that measures a ground position of at least one survey marker on the basis of the signals received by the plurality of survey markers; and a processing unit that detects the survey marker from a captured image captured by a UAV and including the survey marker, and associates a position of the detected survey marker in the captured image with the ground position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 28, 2017
    Publication date: September 13, 2018
    Applicant: Aerosense Inc.
    Inventors: Satoru SHIMIZU, Kohtaro SABE, Tomohiro MAESHIRO, Kousuke SUZUKI, Sho MURAKOSHI
  • Publication number: 20180222332
    Abstract: This control apparatus includes (A) a first connecting part, which is connected with a driving control apparatus for controlling driving of a power unit for assisting a human power or with the power unit, and through which a current relating to charging and discharging of an electrical power storage device flows, (B) a second connecting part, which is provided separately from the first connecting part, and through which a current relating to charging to the electrical power storage device flows via an electrical connection, and (C) a controller to control charging and discharging of the electrical power storage device, which are performed by using a current, which flows in the first connecting part and/or the second connecting part.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 20, 2016
    Publication date: August 9, 2018
    Applicant: TAIYO YUDEN CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yasuo HOSAKA, Satoru SHIMIZU
  • Patent number: 10040508
    Abstract: This motor driving control apparatus includes (A) a driving unit that drives a motor, and (B) a regeneration control unit that controls the driving unit so as to generate a regenerative 5 braking force in accordance with a vehicle acceleration, a vehicle speed and a pedal-rotation converted speed that is obtained from a pedal rotation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2018
    Assignees: MICROSPACE CORPORATION, TAIYO YUDEN CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Masato Tanaka, Yasuo Hosaka, Kazuo Asanuma, Hiromi Hagiwara, Satoru Shimizu
  • Publication number: 20180215045
    Abstract: A robot apparatus includes an output unit that displays an image including an object on a screen, an input unit that receives an operation performed by a user for specifying information relating to an approximate range including the object in the image, an object extraction unit that extracts information regarding a two-dimensional contour of the object on the basis of the specification received by the input unit, and a position and attitude estimation unit that estimates information regarding a three-dimensional position and attitude of the object on the basis of the information regarding the two-dimensional contour.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 28, 2018
    Publication date: August 2, 2018
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Genta Kondo, Atsushi Miyamoto, Satoru Shimizu
  • Publication number: 20180194430
    Abstract: In one aspect, a controller for driving a motor of the present invention includes a driving control unit that controls driving of a motor, and a regenerative control unit that instructs the driving control unit to start regeneration when a signal from a pedal rotation sensor that detects a rotation direction of the pedal indicates that the rotation direction of the pedal is backwards, the regenerative control unit controlling an amount of the regeneration in accordance with a backward rotation amount of the pedal while the rotation direction of the pedal is backwards, the backward rotation amount being obtained by the pedal rotation sensor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 26, 2018
    Publication date: July 12, 2018
    Applicant: TAIYO YUDEN CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yasuo Hosaka, Kazuo Asanuma, Kuniaki Kawagoe, Satoru Shimizu
  • Publication number: 20180133899
    Abstract: Provided is a robot device including an image input unit for inputting an image of surroundings, a target object detection unit for detecting an object from the input image, an object position detection unit for detecting a position of the object, an environment information acquisition unit for acquiring surrounding environment information of the position of the object, an optimum posture acquisition unit for acquiring an optimum posture corresponding to the surrounding environment information for the object, an object posture detection unit for detecting a current posture of the object from the input image, an object posture comparison unit for comparing the current posture of the object to the optimum posture of the object, and an object posture correction unit for correcting the posture of the object when the object posture comparison unit determines that there is a predetermined difference or more between the current posture and the optimum posture.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 11, 2018
    Publication date: May 17, 2018
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Satoru SHIMIZU, Kenta KAWAMOTO, Yoshiaki IWAI
  • Patent number: 9962839
    Abstract: A robot apparatus includes an output unit that displays an image including an object on a screen, an input unit that receives an operation performed by a user for specifying information relating to an approximate range including the object in the image, an object extraction unit that extracts information regarding a two-dimensional contour of the object on the basis of the specification received by the input unit, and a position and attitude estimation unit that estimates information regarding a three-dimensional position and attitude of the object on the basis of the information regarding the two-dimensional contour.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2018
    Assignee: Sony Corporations
    Inventors: Genta Kondo, Atsushi Miyamoto, Satoru Shimizu
  • Publication number: 20180093588
    Abstract: A motor driving control apparatus in the embodiment includes: a first controller configured to control powering and regeneration of a motor; a second controller configured to control the first controller; and assistant circuitry configured to activate the second controller in a stop state, when a counter electromotive force caused by the motor, which is rotated without control by the first controller, satisfies a predetermined condition, before a power-on instruction for the motor driving control apparatus is made or in a state where the power-on instruction for the motor driving control apparatus is not made.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 28, 2017
    Publication date: April 5, 2018
    Applicant: TAIYO YUDEN CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yasuo HOSAKA, Satoru SHIMIZU
  • Patent number: 9908241
    Abstract: Provided is a robot device including an image input unit for inputting an image of surroundings, a target object detection unit for detecting an object from the input image, an object position detection unit for detecting a position of the object, an environment information acquisition unit for acquiring surrounding environment information of the position of the object, an optimum posture acquisition unit for acquiring an optimum posture corresponding to the surrounding environment information for the object, an object posture detection unit for detecting a current posture of the object from the input image, an object posture comparison unit for comparing the current posture of the object to the optimum posture of the object, and an object posture correction unit for correcting the posture of the object when the object posture comparison unit determines that there is a predetermined difference or more between the current posture and the optimum posture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2018
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Satoru Shimizu, Kenta Kawamoto, Yoshiaki Iwai
  • Patent number: 9902462
    Abstract: In one aspect, a controller for driving a motor of the present invention includes a driving control unit that controls driving of a motor, and a regenerative control unit that instructs the driving control unit to start regeneration when a signal from a pedal rotation sensor that detects a rotation direction of a pedal indicates that the rotation direction of the pedal is backwards, the regenerative control unit controlling an amount of the regeneration in accordance with a rotation amount of the pedal while the rotation direction of the pedal is backwards, the rotation amount being obtained by the pedal rotation sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2018
    Assignee: TAIYO YUDEN CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yasuo Hosaka, Kazuo Asanuma, Kuniaki Kawagoe, Satoru Shimizu
  • Patent number: 9896153
    Abstract: This motor driving control apparatus includes (A) a driving unit that drives a motor, and (B) a regeneration control unit that controls the driving unit so as to generate a regenerative braking force in accordance with a vehicle acceleration, a vehicle speed and a pedal-rotation converted speed that is obtained from a pedal rotation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2018
    Assignees: MICROSPACE CORPORATION, TAIYO YUDEN CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Masato Tanaka, Yasuo Hosaka, Kazuo Asanuma, Hiromi Hagiwara, Satoru Shimizu