Patents by Inventor Zherong Pan

Zherong Pan 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: 20240096022
    Abstract: In a method, a visual hull is generated based on intersections of first 3D primitives of a plurality of first silhouettes with a bounding box of a 3D model. The first silhouettes are generated by projecting the 3D model onto planes perpendicular to a number of selected view directions of the 3D model. Each of the first 3D primitives is obtained by extruding a connected loop of a respective first silhouette along a view direction of the number of selected view directions that is associated with the respective first silhouette. A carved mesh is be generated based on subtractions of second 3D primitives derived from positive parts of the 3D model to carve out redundant structures from the visual hull. The positive parts are obtained based on fitting planes that slices the 3D model. A low-poly mesh sequence is generated based on progressive simplifications of the carved mesh.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2023
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Applicant: Tencent America LLC
    Inventors: Xifeng GAO, Kui WU, Zherong PAN
  • Patent number: 11900544
    Abstract: In a method, a visual hull is generated based on intersections of first 3D primitives of a plurality of first silhouettes with a bounding box of a 3D model. The first silhouettes are generated by projecting the 3D model onto planes perpendicular to a number of selected view directions of the 3D model. Each of the first 3D primitives is obtained by extruding a connected loop of a respective first silhouette along a view direction of the number of selected view directions that is associated with the respective first silhouette. A carved mesh is be generated based on subtractions of second 3D primitives derived from positive parts of the 3D model to carve out redundant structures from the visual hull. The positive parts are obtained based on fitting planes that slices the 3D model. A low-poly mesh sequence is generated based on progressive simplifications of the carved mesh.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: TENCENT AMERICA LLC
    Inventors: Xifeng Gao, Kui Wu, Zherong Pan
  • Patent number: 11865218
    Abstract: An embodiment may involve obtaining a three-dimensional image map of m surfaces within an environment, wherein the surfaces are associated with importance weights that represent how frequently the surfaces are expected to be touched; determining a set of n vantage points for a light source within the environment; calculating an m×n irradiance matrix for each of the surfaces when the light source is in each of the vantage points, wherein each entry in the m×n irradiance matrix is determined by: (i) rasterizing the three-dimensional image map, (ii) identifying a set of visible surfaces, and (iii) calculating an amount of light-based power that would reach each of the visible surfaces; determining a set of n dwell times for the vantage points; and providing instructions, to a disinfecting agent, to traverse at least a subset of the vantage points, pausing at and illuminating at least some.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
    Inventors: Kristoffer Karl Hauser, Joao Marcos Correia Marques, Zherong Pan
  • Publication number: 20230386136
    Abstract: A multi-agent path planning method is provided. The method includes: generating an initial mesh of a 2D floor plan of a space; optimizing the initial mesh to find a target mesh maximizing a value of a metric function, the metric function including a term reflecting a number of agents that a graph corresponding to a candidate mesh can hold and a term reflecting a number of agents in a largest connected component of the graph corresponding to the candidate mesh, the candidate mesh being a mesh; converting the target mesh into a target graph, each vertex of the target graph representing a position that an agent can reside at, and each edge of the target graph representing a path that an agent can travel on; and planning paths for the plurality of agents according to origins and destinations of the agents and the graph, wherein the agents traveling on the planned paths do not collide with each other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 27, 2022
    Publication date: November 30, 2023
    Inventors: Xifeng GAO, Zherong PAN
  • Publication number: 20230360328
    Abstract: In a method, a visual hull is generated based on intersections of first 3D primitives of a plurality of first silhouettes with a bounding box of a 3D model. The first silhouettes are generated by projecting the 3D model onto planes perpendicular to a number of selected view directions of the 3D model. Each of the first 3D primitives is obtained by extruding a connected loop of a respective first silhouette along a view direction of the number of selected view directions that is associated with the respective first silhouette. A carved mesh is be generated based on subtractions of second 3D primitives derived from positive parts of the 3D model to carve out redundant structures from the visual hull. The positive parts are obtained based on fitting planes that slices the 3D model. A low-poly mesh sequence is generated based on progressive simplifications of the carved mesh.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 5, 2022
    Publication date: November 9, 2023
    Applicant: Tencent America LLC
    Inventors: Xifeng GAO, Kui WU, Zherong PAN
  • Publication number: 20230315947
    Abstract: The various embodiments described herein include methods, devices, and systems for optimizing structural design. In some embodiments, a method includes obtaining a set of constraints for a structure, including an external force constraint; and partitioning a design space for the structure into a plurality of cells. The method further includes, in accordance with the external force constraint being applied to the structure: obtaining an approximate finite element analysis (FEA) solution for the plurality of cells based on the set of constraints; performing a sensitivity analysis on the plurality of cells based on the approximate FEA solution; and updating a structural model for the structure based on the sensitivity analysis of the plurality of cells.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 5, 2022
    Publication date: October 5, 2023
    Inventors: Zherong PAN, Xifeng Gao, Kui Wu
  • Publication number: 20230237733
    Abstract: A method is performed at a computing system for automatically generating an occluder, the method includes receiving an input model of the visual three-dimensional structure, the input model having a plurality of faces. The method includes simplifying the input model into an initial occluder including a plurality of candidate patches in a patch-based coarse mesh. The method includes determining a first quality metric of the initial occluder measured by a first number of pixels corresponding to objects behind the visual three-dimensional structure that are blocked by the input model and the initial occluder along a first view direction. The method includes removing one or more candidate patches associated with the first number of pixels from the initial occluder while maintaining the first quality metric above a first threshold to form the occluder for the visual three-dimensional structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2023
    Publication date: July 27, 2023
    Inventors: Kui WU, Xifeng Gao, Zherong Pan
  • Patent number: 11663772
    Abstract: A method is performed at a computing system for automatically generating an occluder, the method includes receiving an input model of the visual three-dimensional structure, the input model having a plurality of faces. The method includes generating an initial occluder by simplifying the input model into a plurality of candidate patches in a patch-based coarse mesh. The method includes comparing a first two-dimensional area occluded by the input model of the visual three-dimensional structure and a second two-dimensional area occluded by the initial occluder along the first view direction to determine a first quality metric based on a first number of pixels that are blocked by the input model that is also blocked by the initial occluder. The method includes removing a plurality of faces from the initial occluder while maintaining the first quality metric above a first threshold to form the occluder for the visual three-dimensional structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Assignee: TENCENT AMERICA LLC
    Inventors: Kui Wu, Xifeng Gao, Zherong Pan
  • Publication number: 20220088237
    Abstract: An embodiment may involve obtaining a three-dimensional image map of m surfaces within an environment, wherein the surfaces are associated with importance weights that represent how frequently the surfaces are expected to be touched; determining a set of n vantage points for a light source within the environment; calculating an m×n irradiance matrix for each of the surfaces when the light source is in each of the vantage points, wherein each entry in the m×n irradiance matrix is determined by: (i) rasterizing the three-dimensional image map, (ii) identifying a set of visible surfaces, and (iii) calculating an amount of light-based power that would reach each of the visible surfaces; determining a set of n dwell times for the vantage points; and providing instructions, to a disinfecting agent, to traverse at least a subset of the vantage points, pausing at and illuminating at least some.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 30, 2020
    Publication date: March 24, 2022
    Inventors: Kristoffer Karl Hauser, Joao Marcos Correia Marques, Zherong Pan