Patents by Inventor Tomi P. Maila

Tomi P. Maila 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: 10809364
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method of determining relative velocity between a vehicle and an object. The method includes receiving sensor data generated by one or more sensors of the vehicle configured to sense an environment by following a scan pattern comprising component scan lines. The method includes obtaining, based on the sensor data, a point cloud frame. Additionally, the method includes identifying a first pixel and a second pixel that are co-located within a field of regard and overlap a point cloud object within the point cloud frame and calculating a difference between a depth associated with the first pixel and a depth associated with the second pixel. The method includes determining a relative velocity of the point cloud object by dividing the difference in depth data by a time difference between when the depth associated with the first pixel was sensed and the depth associated with the second pixel was sensed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2020
    Assignee: Luminar Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Tomi P. Maila, Pranav Maheshwari, Benjamin Englard
  • Publication number: 20200097010
    Abstract: Various software techniques for managing operation of autonomous vehicles based on sensor data are disclosed herein. A computing system may generate, based on a set of signals descriptive of a current state of an environment in which the autonomous vehicle is operating, a normal path plan separate from a safe path plan, or a hybrid path plan including a normal path plan and a safe path plan. In generating the safe path plan, the computing system may generate and concatenate a set of motion primitives. When a fault condition occurs, the computing device may transition from executing the normal path plan to executing the safe path plan to safely stop the autonomous vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2018
    Publication date: March 26, 2020
    Inventors: Tomi P. Maila, Vahid R. Ramezani, Benjamin Englard
  • Publication number: 20200041619
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method of determining a relative velocity between a vehicle and an object. The method includes receiving sensor data generated by one or more sensors of the vehicle configured to sense an environment following a scan pattern. The method also includes obtaining, based on the sensor data, a point cloud frame. The point cloud frame comprises a plurality of points of depth data and a time at which the depth data was captured. Additionally, the method includes selecting two or more points of the scan pattern that overlap the object. The selected points are located on or near a two-dimensional surface corresponding to the object, and the depth data for two or more of the selected points are captured at different times. The method includes calculating the relative velocity between the vehicle and the object based on the depth data and capture times associated with the selected points.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 20, 2018
    Publication date: February 6, 2020
    Inventors: Pranav Maheshwari, Tomi P. Maila, Benjamin Englard
  • Publication number: 20200043176
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method of determining relative velocity between a vehicle and an object. The method includes receiving sensor data generated by one or more sensors of the vehicle configured to sense an environment by following a scan pattern comprising component scan lines. The method includes obtaining, based on the sensor data, a point cloud frame. Additionally, the method includes identifying a first pixel and a second pixel that are co-located within a field of regard and overlap a point cloud object within the point cloud frame and calculating a difference between a depth associated with the first pixel and a depth associated with the second pixel. The method includes determining a relative velocity of the point cloud object by dividing the difference in depth data by a time difference between when the depth associated with the first pixel was sensed and the depth associated with the second pixel was sensed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 20, 2018
    Publication date: February 6, 2020
    Inventors: Tomi P. Maila, Pranav Maheshwari, Benjamin Englard
  • Patent number: 10551485
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method of determining a relative velocity between a vehicle and an object. The method includes receiving sensor data generated by one or more sensors of the vehicle configured to sense an environment following a scan pattern. The method also includes obtaining, based on the sensor data, a point cloud frame. The point cloud frame comprises a plurality of points of depth data and a time at which the depth data was captured. Additionally, the method includes selecting two or more points of the scan pattern that overlap the object. The selected points are located on or near a two-dimensional surface corresponding to the object, and the depth data for two or more of the selected points are captured at different times. The method includes calculating the relative velocity between the vehicle and the object based on the depth data and capture times associated with the selected points.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2020
    Assignee: Luminar Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Pranav Maheshwari, Tomi P. Maila, Benjamin Englard
  • Patent number: 10481605
    Abstract: Various software techniques for managing operation of autonomous vehicles based on sensor data are disclosed herein. A computing system may generate, based on a set of signals descriptive of a current state of an environment in which the autonomous vehicle is operating, a normal path plan separate from a safe path plan, or a hybrid path plan including a normal path plan and a safe path plan. In generating the safe path plan, the computing system may generate and concatenate a set of motion primitives. When a fault condition occurs, the computing device may transition from executing the normal path plan to executing the safe path plan to safely stop the autonomous vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Assignee: Luminar Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Tomi P. Maila, Vahid R. Ramezani, Benjamin Englard
  • Patent number: 10394243
    Abstract: Various software techniques for managing operation of autonomous vehicles based on sensor data are disclosed herein. A computing system may generate, based on a set of signals descriptive of a current state of an environment in which the autonomous vehicle is operating, a normal path plan separate from a safe path plan, or a hybrid path plan including a normal path plan and a safe path plan. In generating the safe path plan, the computing system may generate and concatenate a set of motion primitives. When a fault condition occurs, the computing device may transition from executing the normal path plan to executing the safe path plan to safely stop the autonomous vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2019
    Assignee: Luminar Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Vahid R. Ramezani, Benjamin Englard, Tomi P. Maila