Patents by Inventor Stefan Heck

Stefan Heck 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: 11945435
    Abstract: An apparatus includes: a first camera configured to view an environment outside a vehicle; a second camera configured to view a driver of the vehicle; and a processing unit configured to receive a first image from the first camera, and a second image from the second camera; wherein the processing unit is configured to determine first information indicating a risk of collision with the vehicle based at least partly on the first image; wherein the processing unit is configured to determine second information indicating a state of the driver based at least partly on the second image; and wherein the processing unit is configured to determine whether to provide a control signal for operating a device or not based on (1) the first information indicating the risk of collision with the vehicle, and (2) the second information indicating the state of the driver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Nauto, Inc.
    Inventors: Benjamin Oren Alpert, Tahmida Binte Mahmud, Alexander Dion Wu, Piyush Chandra, Jeremy Marschke, Gary Kwan, Stefan Heck, Ruslan Belkin, Ilan Hornstein
  • Patent number: 11580756
    Abstract: A method for driver identification including recording a first image of a vehicle driver; extracting a set of values for a set of facial features of the vehicle driver from the first image; determining a filtering parameter; selecting a cluster of driver identifiers from a set of clusters, based on the filtering parameter; computing a probability that the set of values is associated with each driver identifier of the cluster; determining, at the vehicle sensor system, driving characterization data for the driving session; and in response to the computed probability exceeding a first threshold probability: determining that the new set of values corresponds to one driver identifier within the selected cluster, and associating the driving characterization data with the one driver identifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2023
    Assignee: Nauto, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Gleeson-May, Frederick Soo, Stefan Heck
  • Patent number: 11485284
    Abstract: A method for determining distraction of a driver of a vehicle, including sampling sensor measurements at an onboard system of the vehicle; generating an output indicative of a distracted state; determining that the driver of the vehicle is characterized by the distracted state, based on the output; generating, at a second distraction detection module of a remote computing system, a second output indicative that the driver is characterized by the distracted state, based on the sensor measurements; computing a distraction score, at a scoring module of the remote computing system, in response to generating the second output and based on the sensor measurements and the distracted state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: Nauto, Inc.
    Inventors: Ludmila Levkova, Stefan Heck, Benjamin O. Alpert, Ravi Kumar Satzoda, Suchitra Sathyanarayana, Vivek Sekar
  • Patent number: 11392131
    Abstract: Systems and methods for driving. A driving data set for each of plurality of human-driven vehicles is determined. For each driving data set, exterior scene features of an exterior scene of the respective vehicle are extracted from the exterior image data. A driving response model is trained based on the exterior scene features and the vehicle control inputs from the selected driving data sets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignee: Nauto, Inc.
    Inventors: Ravi Kumar Satzoda, Suchitra Sathyanarayana, Ludmila Levkova, Stefan Heck
  • Publication number: 20220036473
    Abstract: A method for determining an adverse vehicle event, including: sampling sensor data an onboard vehicle system coupled to an ego-vehicle; at the onboard vehicle system, extracting a set of event parameters from the sensor data, wherein the vehicle event data is associated with a vehicle event occurring within the time interval; computing a loss probability based on the set of event parameters in response to the loss probability exceeding a threshold probability, transforming the set of event parameters into insurance claim data; and automatically transmitting the insurance claim data to an endpoint, wherein the endpoint is determined based on the participant identifier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 19, 2021
    Publication date: February 3, 2022
    Applicant: Nauto, Inc
    Inventors: Alex Thompson, Shobana Sankaran, Charles Hornbaker, Stefan Heck
  • Publication number: 20210380115
    Abstract: An apparatus includes: a first camera configured to view an environment outside a vehicle; a second camera configured to view a driver of the vehicle; and a processing unit configured to receive a first image from the first camera, and a second image from the second camera; wherein the processing unit is configured to determine first information indicating a risk of collision with the vehicle based at least partly on the first image; wherein the processing unit is configured to determine second information indicating a state of the driver based at least partly on the second image; and wherein the processing unit is configured to determine whether to provide a control signal for operating a device or not based on (1) the first information indicating the risk of collision with the vehicle, and (2) the second information indicating the state of the driver.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 15, 2021
    Publication date: December 9, 2021
    Applicant: Nauto, Inc.
    Inventors: Benjamin Oren Alpert, Tahmida Binte Mahmud, Alexander Dion Wu, Piyush Chandra, Jeremy Marschke, Gary Kwan, Stefan Heck, Ruslan Belkin, Ilan Hornstein
  • Patent number: 11164259
    Abstract: A method for determining an adverse vehicle event, including: sampling sensor data an onboard vehicle system coupled to an ego-vehicle; at the onboard vehicle system, extracting a set of event parameters from the sensor data, wherein the vehicle event data is associated with a vehicle event occurring within the time interval; computing a loss probability based on the set of event parameters in response to the loss probability exceeding a threshold probability, transforming the set of event parameters into insurance claim data; and automatically transmitting the insurance claim data to an endpoint, wherein the endpoint is determined based on the participant identifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: Nauto, Inc.
    Inventors: Alex Thompson, Shobana Sankaran, Charles Hornbaker, Stefan Heck
  • Publication number: 20210312193
    Abstract: An apparatus includes: a first camera configured to view an environment outside a vehicle; a second camera configured to view a driver of the vehicle; and a processing unit configured to receive a first image from the first camera, and a second image from the second camera; wherein the processing unit is configured to determine first information indicating a risk of intersection violation based at least partly on the first image; wherein the processing unit is configured to determine second information indicating a state of the driver based at least partly on the second image; and wherein the processing unit is configured to determine whether to provide a control signal for operating a device or not based on (1) the first information indicating the intersection violation, and (2) the second information indicating the state of the driver.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 15, 2021
    Publication date: October 7, 2021
    Applicant: Nauto, Inc.
    Inventors: Benjamin Oren Alpert, Tahmida Binte Mahmud, Alexander Dion Wu, Piyush Chandra, Jeremy Marschke, Gary Kwan, Stefan Heck, Ruslan Belkin, Ilan Hornstein
  • Publication number: 20210309221
    Abstract: An apparatus includes: a first camera configured to view an environment outside a vehicle; and a processing unit configured to receive a first image from the first camera; wherein the processing unit is configured to determine a centerline of a road or a lane in which the vehicle is traveling; and wherein the processing unit is configured to determine a region of interest based on the centerline, the region of interest having a geometry that is based on a feature of the centerline.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 15, 2021
    Publication date: October 7, 2021
    Applicant: Nauto, Inc.
    Inventors: Benjamin Oren Alpert, Tahmida Binte Mahmud, Alexander Dion Wu, Piyush Chandra, Jeremy Marschke, Gary Kwan, Stefan Heck, Ruslan Belkin, Ilan Hornstein
  • Patent number: 11023751
    Abstract: A method for safe route determination, including determining a geographic risk map for a geographic region, wherein the geographic risk map is determined based on a vehicle event dataset aggregated from a plurality of vehicles enabled with an onboard vehicle system, and automatically determining a route between two locations in the geographic region based on the geographic risk map.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: Nauto, Inc.
    Inventors: Stefan Heck, Suchitra Sathyanarayana, Charles Hornbaker
  • Patent number: 11017479
    Abstract: A method for determining an adverse vehicle event, including: sampling sensor data an onboard vehicle system coupled to an ego-vehicle; at the onboard vehicle system, extracting a set of event parameters from the sensor data, wherein the vehicle event data is associated with a vehicle event occurring within the time interval; computing a loss probability based on the set of event parameters in response to the loss probability exceeding a threshold probability, transforming the set of event parameters into insurance claim data; and automatically transmitting the insurance claim data to an endpoint, wherein the endpoint is determined based on the participant identifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2021
    Assignee: Nauto, Inc.
    Inventors: Alex Thompson, Shobana Sankaran, Charles Hornbaker, Stefan Heck
  • Publication number: 20200334473
    Abstract: A method for safe route determination, including determining a geographic risk map for a geographic region, wherein the geographic risk map is determined based on a vehicle event dataset aggregated from a plurality of vehicles enabled with an onboard vehicle system, and automatically determining a route between two locations in the geographic region based on the geographic risk map.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 1, 2020
    Publication date: October 22, 2020
    Applicant: Nauto, Inc.
    Inventors: Stefan Heck, Suchitra Sathyanarayana, Charles Hornbaker
  • Publication number: 20200331387
    Abstract: A method for determining distraction of a driver of a vehicle, including sampling sensor measurements at an onboard system of the vehicle; generating an output indicative of a distracted state; determining that the driver of the vehicle is characterized by the distracted state, based on the output; generating, at a second distraction detection module of a remote computing system, a second output indicative that the driver is characterized by the distracted state, based on the sensor measurements; computing a distraction score, at a scoring module of the remote computing system, in response to generating the second output and based on the sensor measurements and the distracted state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 3, 2020
    Publication date: October 22, 2020
    Applicant: Nauto, Inc.
    Inventors: Ludmila Levkova, Stefan Heck, Benjamin O. Alpert, Ravi Kumar Satzoda, Suchitra Sathyanarayana, Vivek Sekar
  • Patent number: 10769456
    Abstract: A method for near-collision detection, including determining a risk map for a vehicle and automatically detecting a near-collision event with an object based on vehicle behavior relative to the risk map.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2020
    Assignee: Nauto, Inc.
    Inventors: Suchitra Sathyanarayana, Ravi Kumar Satzoda, Stefan Heck
  • Patent number: 10733460
    Abstract: A method for safe route determination, including determining a geographic risk map for a geographic region, wherein the geographic risk map is determined based on a vehicle event dataset aggregated from a plurality of vehicles enabled with an onboard vehicle system, and automatically determining a route between two locations in the geographic region based on the geographic risk map.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2020
    Assignee: Nauto, Inc.
    Inventors: Stefan Heck, Suchitra Sathyanarayana, Charles Hornbaker
  • Patent number: 10703268
    Abstract: A method for determining distraction of a driver of a vehicle, including sampling sensor measurements at an onboard system of the vehicle; generating an output indicative of a distracted state; determining that the driver of the vehicle is characterized by the distracted state, based on the output; generating, at a second distraction detection module of a remote computing system, a second output indicative that the driver is characterized by the distracted state, based on the sensor measurements; computing a distraction score, at a scoring module of the remote computing system, in response to generating the second output and based on the sensor measurements and the distracted state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2020
    Assignee: Nauto, Inc.
    Inventors: Ludmila Levkova, Stefan Heck, Benjamin O. Alpert, Ravi Kumar Satzoda, Suchitra Sathyanarayana, Vivek Sekar
  • Publication number: 20200110952
    Abstract: A method for driver identification including recording a first image of a vehicle driver; extracting a set of values for a set of facial features of the vehicle driver from the first image; determining a filtering parameter; selecting a cluster of driver identifiers from a set of clusters, based on the filtering parameter; computing a probability that the set of values is associated with each driver identifier of the cluster; determining, at the vehicle sensor system, driving characterization data for the driving session; and in response to the computed probability exceeding a first threshold probability: determining that the new set of values corresponds to one driver identifier within the selected cluster, and associating the driving characterization data with the one driver identifier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2019
    Publication date: April 9, 2020
    Inventors: Michael Gleeson-May, Frederick Soo, Stefan Heck
  • Publication number: 20190385239
    Abstract: A method for determining an adverse vehicle event, including: sampling sensor data an onboard vehicle system coupled to an ego-vehicle; at the onboard vehicle system, extracting a set of event parameters from the sensor data, wherein the vehicle event data is associated with a vehicle event occurring within the time interval; computing a loss probability based on the set of event parameters in response to the loss probability exceeding a threshold probability, transforming the set of event parameters into insurance claim data; and automatically transmitting the insurance claim data to an endpoint, wherein the endpoint is determined based on the participant identifier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 27, 2019
    Publication date: December 19, 2019
    Inventors: Alex Thompson, Shobana Sankaran, Charles Hornbaker, Stefan Heck
  • Patent number: 10503990
    Abstract: A method for driver identification including recording a first image of a vehicle driver; extracting a set of values for a set of facial features of the vehicle driver from the first image; determining a filtering parameter; selecting a cluster of driver identifiers from a set of clusters, based on the filtering parameter; computing a probability that the set of values is associated with each driver identifier of the cluster; determining, at the vehicle sensor system, driving characterization data for the driving session; and in response to the computed probability exceeding a first threshold probability: determining that the new set of values corresponds to one driver identifier within the selected cluster, and associating the driving characterization data with the one driver identifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2019
    Assignee: Nauto, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Gleeson-May, Frederick Soo, Stefan Heck
  • Patent number: 10489222
    Abstract: Systems and methods for distributed event detection. Sensor data is synchronized, and an on-board detector included in a vehicle detects an event from the synchronized sensor data. The synchronized sensor data is transmitted to a remote system. At the remote system, a remote detector detects the event and generates a remote label from at least a data subset of the synchronized sensor data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: Nauto, Inc.
    Inventors: Suchitra Sathyanarayana, Stefan Heck, Rohit Saboo