Vehicle Parking Indicators Patents (Class 340/932.2)
  • Patent number: 12128925
    Abstract: For a vehicle at a first location, a blind zone is defined that is outside fields of view of available vehicle sensors. A path is determined that avoids the blind zone and moves the vehicle away from the first location. The path includes a straight portion having a first end at the first location, and a turning portion starting at a second end of the straight portion. The straight portion is defined such that, at the second end of the straight portion, the fields of view encompass the blind zone. The vehicle is determined to operate along the turning portion based on obtaining sensor data from the blind zone upon reaching the end of the straight portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2024
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Luke Niewiadomski, Li Xu, Hamid M. Golgiri
  • Patent number: 12128878
    Abstract: Techniques for controlling a vehicle to select parking spaces are discussed herein. The vehicle may receive a request to travel to a destination and obtain information about a first set and a second set of parking spaces within a threshold distance of the destination. The vehicle may determine a first likelihood of availability associated with the first set of parking spaces and a second likelihood of availability associated with the second set of parking spaces. The vehicle may determine a first cost associated with a first route to the first set of parking spaces and a second cost associated with a second route to the second set of parking spaces by the cost function. Upon determining that the first cost is equal to or less than the second cost, the vehicle may navigate based on the first route and park within one of the first set of parking spaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2024
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph Funke, Steven Cheng Qian, Zheyuan Xie
  • Patent number: 12122300
    Abstract: A parking assistance device includes: a sensor-information processing circuit that detects an empty parking space around a host vehicle; a surrounding-image generation circuit that generates a surrounding image that is a view of surroundings of the host vehicle from above; an image display circuit that displays a first assistance image at a position of the empty parking space in the surrounding image, the first assistance image indicating the empty parking space; and a stop determination circuit that determines whether the host vehicle has stopped. In a case where it is determined by the stop determination circuit that the host vehicle has stopped, the image display circuit displays the first assistance image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2024
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Suzuki, Ko Sato, Daisuke Tanaka, Yasuhiro Sakurai, Ryota Yamanaka, Junya Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 12118832
    Abstract: The present application discloses a method and a system for analyzing and predicting a vehicle stay behavior based on multi-task learning, and the method includes the following steps: acquiring vehicle GPS and OBD data including a vehicle ID, a travel start time, a start longitude, a start latitude, an end time, an end longitude, and an end latitude after desensitization; preprocessing vehicle GPS and OBD data to obtain vehicle stay behavior data including stay location and stay duration; extract a spatial-temporal characteristic of the preprocessed vehicle stay behavior data by a deep recurrent neural network; inputting the spatial-temporal characteristic into a multi-task learning and predicting network, and obtaining the correlation between a stay location prediction task and the stay duration prediction task based on the historical stay behavior of the vehicle through the multi-task learning and predicting network to predict the stay location and stay duration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2023
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2024
    Assignee: ZHEJIANG LAB
    Inventors: Hongyang Chen, Chenxi Liu, Zhu Xiao
  • Patent number: 12118886
    Abstract: A communication apparatus mounted on a vehicle includes: a camera that captures a still image used for generating a map; a positioning circuit that positions a captured position of the still image; a control circuit that associates position information indicating the captured position with image data of the still image; and a communication circuit that establishes a radio communication with a roadside unit and transmits the image data by radio to the roadside unit, in which the control circuit rearranges an transmission order of the image data to be transmitted by radio to the roadside unit, based on the position information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2024
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kosei Nakano, Hiroyuki Motozuka, Masataka Irie, Yao Huang Gaius Wee
  • Patent number: 12118883
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are provided for analyzing a traffic infrastructure element, determining reflectivity information of the traffic infrastructure element based on the analyzing of the traffic infrastructure element, comparing the reflectivity information of the traffic infrastructure element with semantic map information of the traffic infrastructure element, and providing instructions to an autonomous vehicle based on the comparing of the reflectivity information of the traffic infrastructure element with the semantic map information of the traffic infrastructure element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2024
    Assignee: GM Cruise Holdings LLC
    Inventors: Nestor Grace, Dogan Gidon, Diego Plascencia-Vega, Srishti Iyer Koduvayur, Hooman Barekatain
  • Patent number: 12111663
    Abstract: Systems and methods for facilitating storage of an autonomous vehicle (“AV”) in a storage facility are disclosed. A server receives a storage request from an electronic device and retrieves a set of available storage facilities stored in a storage facilities database. The server obtains a current location of the AV and determines a preferred storage facility of the set of available storage facilities based in part on the current location of the AV and a set of storage preferences stored in a storage preference database. The server generates a set of vehicle control instructions based on a location of the preferred storage facility and the location of the AV, and transmits the set of vehicle control instructions to the AV causing the AV to navigate to the preferred storage facility from the current location of the AV.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2024
    Inventor: William D. Nemedi
  • Patent number: 12112631
    Abstract: A parking guidance system and a method for allocating a parking space for a vehicle and for navigating the vehicle to the parking space are provided. The system has a detection unit for detecting an occupancy state of a parking space and/or a parking area containing a plurality of parking spaces, at least one mobile terminal with which a request from at least one vehicle driver for a parking space for his vehicle to reach a destination can be transmitted to the parking guidance system, which request comprises instantaneous position data of the vehicle. The parking guidance system is designed to select an available parking space in accordance with the request and to transmit a selection suggestion for a parking space to the mobile terminal and comprises a navigation system designed to determine a route from the location of the vehicle at the time of the parking space request to the available parking space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2024
    Assignee: Graphmasters SA
    Inventor: Sebastian Heise
  • Patent number: 12110055
    Abstract: Method for providing parallel parking assistance including generating an augmented video stream including an overhead view video stream, a graphical representation of a host vehicle, and a first arrow for indicating an initial position of the host vehicle, generating, by a processor, a first control signal indicative of a first steering angle in response to receiving a first confirmation signal from a user interface indicative of a confirmation of the initial position of the host vehicle, generating, by the processor, a second control signal indicative of a second steering angle in response to a change in yaw reaching a first desired yaw, generating, by the processor, a second arrow to be overlaid on the overhead view video stream indicative of a distance between the host vehicle and a curb, generating, by the processor, a third control signal indicative of a third steering angle in response to receiving a second confirmation signal from the user interface indicative of a confirmation of the distance between
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2023
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2024
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Magdalena M Parkila, Avesta Goodarzi, Norman J Weigert, Michael J Bliss
  • Patent number: 12106667
    Abstract: A method by which a terminal receives a signal in a wireless communication system is disclosed. The method can comprise: receiving first information about a parking space from the infrastructure of a parking lot; generating second information for parking in the parking lot, on the basis of the first information; and transmitting the second information to a vehicle having established a communication link with the terminal. In addition, the first information can include spatial coordinates and a virtual parking line of the parking space. The UE is capable of communicating with at least one of another UE, a UE related to an autonomous driving vehicle, a base station or a network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2024
    Assignee: LG ELECTRONICS INC.
    Inventors: Jongseob Baek, Myoungseob Kim, Jaeho Hwang
  • Patent number: 12106666
    Abstract: A system for communicating information about parking space availability can include a processor and a memory. The memory can store a calculations module and a communications module. The calculations module can include instructions that cause the processor to: (1) obtain a current count of spaces available for parking in an area designated for parking and (2) calculate, based on the current count and information, a revised count of the spaces. The information can indicate that a second vehicle has moved into or out of the area. The communications module can include instructions that cause the processor to: (1) receive, from a first vehicle, the information and (2) cause the revised count to be communicated to a component of a vehicle, in a vicinity of the area, for an action to be performed. The first vehicle can be parked. The information can be received via a sensor of the first vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2024
    Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
    Inventors: Takamasa Higuchi, Kentaro Oguchi
  • Patent number: 12091086
    Abstract: A parking assistance device includes an imager that captures an image of a surrounding of a vehicle, and a display that displays a guidance image for guiding the vehicle from a parking start position to a target parking position and displays a moving area in which the vehicle can move during a parking operation. An area and dimension of the moving area displayed on the display changes based on a change in a steering angle of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2023
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2024
    Assignee: PANASONIC AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Hirotaka Kamiyama
  • Patent number: 12094339
    Abstract: A system and method for creating a parking database and providing parking suggestions to the driver. The system and method includes receiving parking data from a plurality of vehicles in a fleet of vehicles, creating a parking database based upon the parking data, wherein the parking database comprises a plurality of curated parking locations determined by analyzing the parking data, generating a plurality of parking clusters based upon the parking database, wherein each of the plurality of parking clusters comprises a plurality of parking locations selected from the plurality of curated parking locations in the parking database, and identifying at least one of the plurality of parking clusters as a parking suggestion for a driver based upon a determined break location for the driver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2024
    Assignee: Schneider Enterprise Resources, LLC
    Inventors: Matt Roherty, Brendt Peeters
  • Patent number: 12094262
    Abstract: A vehicle transmits vehicle data to an observer entity when the vehicle and the observer entity are in proximity. The vehicle data includes unique vehicle identification information; proximity is defined by an upper threshold for a distance between the vehicle and the observer entity. The observer entity adds data to the vehicle data, the added data including an indication of a position of the observer entity and a time stamp indicating a time of reception of the vehicle data to generate joint data. The joint data is transmitted to an external database and the aforementioned steps are repeated. From the added data a usage estimation value is calculated which is a measure for usage of the vehicle and which is compared with the vehicle usage data retrieved from the vehicle. Information on validity of the vehicle usage data based on the comparison result is generated and output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2024
    Assignee: HONDA RESEARCH INSTITUTE EUROPE GMBH
    Inventors: Nils Einecke, Sven Rebhan
  • Patent number: 12091052
    Abstract: A system for addressing failure in an autonomous agent includes a driving subsystem, a control subsystem, a central computing subsystem, and an autonomous vehicle (AV) sensor subsystem. The system can optionally additionally include a power subsystem, a vehicle chassis subsystem, a communication subsystem, a distributed computing and/or processing subsystem, a supplementary sensor subsystem, and/or any other components. A method for addressing failure can include any or all of: detecting and responding to a failure; and operating the vehicle. Additionally or alternatively, the method 200 can include any other processes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2024
    Assignee: Gatik AI Inc.
    Inventors: Apeksha Kumavat, Brian McLean, Siddharth Ram, Arjun Narang, Gautam Narang
  • Patent number: 12088950
    Abstract: An image-capturing apparatus, a control method, and a program that make it possible to easily provide an image suitable for the operation of a vehicle. The controller controls reading of an image from an image sensor that captures the image, on the basis of vehicle information acquired by a vehicle, the image being displayed on a display section of the vehicle. Embodiments may be applicable to a viewing system that displays an image of a region behind a vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2024
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Go Yamanaka, Yasuhiro Yukawa, Takuya Yamaguchi
  • Patent number: 12084077
    Abstract: A curb management system for a host vehicle includes a sensor, an electronic controller, and a wireless communication system. The sensor is configured to detect information relating to a presence of a parked vehicle along a curb of a road. The electronic controller is configured to determine curb management information based on the information detected by the sensor. The wireless communication system is configured to transmit the curb management information to a remote server and to receive a predicted curb availability from the remote server.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2024
    Assignee: Nissan North America, Inc.
    Inventors: Siddharth Thakur, Viju James, Mark Fischer, Simon Tien, Armelle Guerin
  • Patent number: 12080167
    Abstract: A parking management apparatus capable of starting management of a parking service without requiring use of ancillary facilities of a parking lot is provided. A parking management apparatus that manages a parking service, including: a position information acquisition unit that acquires position information of a vehicle; a destination information acquisition unit that acquires destination information of the vehicle; a creation unit that creates vicinity parking lot information of a vicinity of a destination provided to the vehicle based on the position information of the vehicle, the destination information of the vehicle, and wide-area parking lot information; and a management unit that specifies a parking lot where the vehicle has entered based on the position information of the vehicle and the wide-area parking lot information or the vicinity parking lot information and starts the management of the parking service in the parking lot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Masayuki Itoh
  • Patent number: 12071173
    Abstract: A vehicle parking assist apparatus acquires a camera image when the vehicle stops by a non-determined parking lot and acquires feature points of a ground of an entrance of the non-determined parking lot as non-compared entrance feature points from the camera image. The vehicle parking assist apparatus determines whether the non-determined parking lot is a registered parking lot by comparing information on the non-compared entrance feature points with registered entrance feature point information. The vehicle parking assist apparatus executes a parking assist control with using the currently-acquired parking lot information and the registered parking lot information when the vehicle parking assist apparatus determines that the non-determined parking lot is the registered parking lot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2023
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yu Hiei
  • Patent number: 12067787
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media can determine contextual information describing at least one physical structure corresponding to a location based at least in part on data captured by one or more sensors of a vehicle. A set of candidate interaction points for the at least one physical structure can be determined based at least in part on the determined contextual information describing the at least one physical structure corresponding to the location. The set of candidate interaction points can be filtered to identify one or more interaction points. An interaction point can be selected from the one or more interaction points to use for stopping the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2024
    Assignee: Lyft, Inc.
    Inventor: Kris Richard Efland
  • Patent number: 12066827
    Abstract: A watercraft auto-docking system basically includes a user interface and a digital controller. The user interface includes a display monitor. The digital controller includes a processor, a computer memory and an I/O interface. The user interface is connected to the I/O interface. The digital controller is configured to select a target dock based on a user selection from at least one candidate dock displayed on the display monitor using the user interface for docking a watercraft in an auto-docking mode. The digital controller is configured to generate a docking path from a current location of the watercraft to a target location of the target dock. The digital controller is configured to autonomously navigate the watercraft using an autopilot system along the docking path until the watercraft reaches the target location of the target dock.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2024
    Assignee: YAMAHA HATSUDOKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Juan Pablo Afman, Thomas Gurriet
  • Patent number: 12060037
    Abstract: A method and system for creation and application of parked vehicle security rules is disclosed. The method includes transmitting, over at least one network to be received via a web-operative interface of an at least one remote system, the parking location and time duration information of a vehicle for enabling creation of a theft alert rule within the at least one remote system. The theft alert rule may be based on a combination of: the vehicle remaining at a parking location for the time duration (i.e. the time duration being a defined part of the parking location and time duration information); and identification data corresponding to the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2024
    Assignee: MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS, INC.
    Inventors: Hania A Yassin, Shanthi Ravindran, Daniel Hammond
  • Patent number: 12045844
    Abstract: A personal electronic parking system and method adapted to identify, track, predict, alert, manage and collect payment, and enforce on-street and off-street parking, the system including a central cloud network adapted to generate and manage user data and parking data, a user interface adapted to show users parking information relevant to the user, a unique machine-readable code, wherein the code provides identification of a specific vehicle used by the user, one or more sensors, one or more meter devices adapted to connect with the central cloud network and the user interface, and a parking payment and enforcement portal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2022
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2024
    Assignee: iPEP, Inc.
    Inventors: Kelly T. Monassebian, Rajarathnam Chandramouli
  • Patent number: 12046139
    Abstract: A vehicle parking management system includes one or more processors configured to receive data indicative of one or more characteristics of one or more parking locations. The one or more processors is also configured to determine one or more recommended parking locations of the one or more parking locations based on the data and based on an input related to a vehicle. The one or more processors is further configured to output a recommendation of the one or more recommended parking locations via a display screen to a driver of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2023
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2024
    Assignee: United Services Automobile Association (USAA)
    Inventors: Emily Margaret Gray, Daniel Christopher Bitsis, Jr., Qunying Kou, Robert Wiseman Simpson, Manfred Amann, Donnette Moncrief Brown, Eric David Schroeder, Meredith Beveridge Lecocke, Michael J. Maciolek, Bobby Lawrence Mohs, Brian F. Shipley, Justin Dax Haslam, Ashley Raine Philbrick
  • Patent number: 12036981
    Abstract: The disclosure generally pertains to systems and methods to protect a side-view mirror of a vehicle. An example method executed by a processor includes obtaining a first dimensional parameter associated with a body portion of a vehicle (for example, a width or a length of the vehicle) and a second dimensional parameter associated with a side-view mirror attached to the vehicle (for example, a protrusion distance of the side-view mirror). A turning path characteristic associated with a movement of the vehicle may then be determined, followed by determining a probability of a collision between the side-view mirror and an object located outside the vehicle. Determining the probability may be based on the first dimensional parameter, the second dimensional parameter, and the turning path characteristic. If the probability of the collision exceeds a threshold value, an alert may be issued, or a preventive maneuver executed in order to prevent the collision.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2024
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Keith Weston, Andrew Denis Lewandowski, Jordan Barrett, Brendan Diamond, Michael Alan Mcnees
  • Patent number: 12036976
    Abstract: A system, method, infrastructure, and vehicle for automated valet parking are provided. The method includes initiating an automated valet parking procedure for a vehicle, providing the vehicle with a target position and a first guide route leading to the target position, detecting an unexpected incident based on situation information, and providing the vehicle with a second guide route to deal with the unexpected incident.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2024
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
    Inventor: Tae Dong Oh
  • Patent number: 12013686
    Abstract: Techniques and apparatus describe a robotic workcell for performing a robotic stowing operation. The robotic workcell includes a mechanism system, which includes a first robotic gantry, a second robotic gantry, and a controller. The first robotic gantry includes a first mount and a robotic end effector(s) attached to the first mount. The second robotic gantry includes a second mount and at least one end effector attached to the second mount. The controller controls movement of the first mount, the second mount, and the robotic end effector(s), based in part on an analysis of an environment with one or more perception sensors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2024
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Aaron Joseph Parness, Sisir Babu Karumanchi, Joshua Rosenberg Hooks, Parker Owan, Rahul Balakrishna Warrier, Andres Camilo Cortes Lopez, Jeongseok Lee, Curt Salisbury, Andrew Stubbs
  • Patent number: 11999344
    Abstract: A system and a method for determining an intermediate parking goal of an autonomous vehicle. The autonomous vehicle includes a controller, the controller has a processor and a storage device storing computer executable code. The computer executable code, when executed at the processor, is configured to: prepare a driving plan toward a final parking goal and a parking plan to park at the final parking goal; drive the autonomous vehicle toward the final parking goal according to the driving plan; switch from the driving plan to the parking plan when the autonomous vehicle is within a predetermined distance to the final parking goal; and when the final parking goal is inaccessible: determine the intermediate parking goal, drive and park the autonomous vehicle at the intermediate parking goal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2024
    Assignee: BEIJING JINGDONG QIANSHI TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Haiming Wang, Liangliang Zhang, Qi Kong
  • Patent number: 12002101
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method for providing covered parking to vehicles is provided. The method may include transmitting a location identifier of a covered parking location and a communication address of a covered parking location (CPL) computing device to a vehicle computing device and/or an insurance computing device. The method may further include transmitting a signal to the vehicle computing device indicating a number of available parking spots of the covered parking location when the vehicle computing device contacts the CPL computing device, receiving a request from the vehicle computing device to reserve a parking spot of the covered parking location, determining whether to accept the request, and transmitting a response to the vehicle computing device. Accepting the request causes the CPL computing device to permit a vehicle associated with the vehicle computing device access to the covered parking location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2024
    Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
    Inventors: Aaron Chan, Christina P. Mullen, Rosemarie Grant, John Nepomuceno, Cynthia L. Garretson
  • Patent number: 12002100
    Abstract: An insurance computing device is provided. The insurance computing device may include a processor and a memory. The processor may be programmed to receive a registration request from a vehicle computing device associated with a vehicle and/or a covered parking location (CPL) computing device associated with a covered parking location, generate a usage profile associated with at least one of the vehicle and the covered parking location, monitor the vehicle computing device and/or the CPL computing device for any requests to reserve an available parking spot of the covered parking location, update the usage profile, determine if an insurance policy associated with the vehicle and/or the covered parking location is eligible for insurance-related benefits based upon the usage profile.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2024
    Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
    Inventors: Aaron Chan, Christina P. Mullen, Rosemarie Grant, John Nepomuceno, Cynthia L. Garretson
  • Patent number: 11989796
    Abstract: A parking seeker detection system and method for updating an availability of one or more parking spots of a parking spot database is provided. The method includes determining whether a target vehicle is a registered member vehicle, and in response to determining that the target vehicle is not a registered member vehicle, identifying a target parking spot in which the target vehicle is intending to park and updating an availability of a parking spot of a parking spot database corresponding to the target parking spot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING NORTH AMERICA, INC.
    Inventors: Takamasa Higuchi, Kentaro Oguchi
  • Patent number: 11987286
    Abstract: This vehicle control device is provided with: an environment recognition unit for recognizing the surrounding environment of a vehicle; a parking route generation unit for generating a travel route to a parking position which is determined on the basis of the recognized surrounding environment; a signal input unit to which a parking command signal is input; and a travel control unit for causing the vehicle to travel along the travel route to the parking position on the basis of the input parking command signal. The vehicle control device drives the vehicle to travel to the parking position for automatic parking while behaving differently depending on whether the parking command signal input to the signal input unit is a first parking command signal or a second parking command signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2024
    Assignee: Clarion Co., Ltd
    Inventor: Masato Imai
  • Patent number: 11984024
    Abstract: A parking meter detects an object in proximity, based on a change in a proximity measurement at the meter, activates a directional sensor in response to detecting the object, receives sensor data at a meter processor from the directional sensor, wherein the received sensor data indicates a predetermined direction to the detected object relative to the meter. The parking meter determines a presence of the object, or lack thereof, in the predetermined direction based on the sensor data, and upon a positive determination of the presence of the object, stores an indication of the presence of the object along with a time of the positive determination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2023
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2024
    Assignee: IPS GROUP INC.
    Inventors: Alexander Schwarz, Stephen John Hunter
  • Patent number: 11972612
    Abstract: An object detection and classification verification system for a vehicle includes a projection system configured to project a three-dimensional (3D) scene pre-captured at a known distance and comprising at least one known object onto a surface in front of the vehicle a controller configured to verify a performance of an object detection and classification routine by performing the object detection and classification routine on the projected 3D scene to generate a set of results, comparing the set of results to a set of expected results associated with the projected 3D scene, and based on the comparing, determining whether the performance of the object detection and classification routine satisfies a predetermined threshold metric.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2024
    Assignee: FCA US LLC
    Inventors: Dalong Li, Neil Garbacik
  • Patent number: 11967158
    Abstract: An image processor includes a boundary line detection portion configured to detect a boundary line by using an image in accordance with an image signal acquired by an imaging device, a parking frame detection portion configured to detect a parking frame by using the detected boundary line, an in-frame scanning portion configured to acquire a dividing point that divides a pair of facing sides of the boundary lines that define the parking frame and to scan the image through the dividing point to detect an edge, a storage portion configured to store a state of an edge and an attribute of the parking frame by linking them, and a determination portion configured to determine an attribute of the parking frame by using a state of the detected edge and the stored attribute of the parking frame that is linked to the state of the edge stored in the storage portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: FAURECIA CLARION ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takayuki Kaneko, Yousuke Haga
  • Patent number: 11947356
    Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure relate to evaluating pullovers for autonomous vehicles. In one instance, a set of potential pullover locations within a predetermined distance of a destination may be identified. Whether any of the potential pullover locations of the set include one or more of a plurality of predetermined types of regions of interest where a vehicle should not park for an extended period of time may be determined. A pullover location is identified based on the determination. The identified pullover location may be compared to a pullover location identified by autonomous vehicle control software in order to evaluate the pullover location identified by the autonomous vehicle control software.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Daniella Gutlansky, Mishika Vora, Tiffany Washburn, Yu Zheng, Sandra Lennie
  • Patent number: 11941982
    Abstract: A vehicle guidance device includes: at least one light reflector including: a retroreflector configured to reflect laser light for distance measurement emitted from a vehicle for autonomous driving; and a reflection setter configured to set either a first state in which the laser light is retroreflected from the retroreflector toward the vehicle, or a second state in which the laser light is not retroreflected from the retroreflector toward the vehicle, and a controller configured to cause the reflection setter to set the first state by setting a target position of the vehicle associated with the light reflector and cause the reflection setter to set the second state after the vehicle arrives at the target position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: IHI CORPORATION
    Inventor: Motonao Niizuma
  • Patent number: 11935410
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and apparatuses for locating parking spaces are disclosed. According to one method, a request is received from a user of a vehicle to locate a space; the location of the user is determined; a database comprising spaces within a geographic region is accessed; from the database, a subset of spaces within the geographic region is identified, the subset comprising user-specific spaces; a determination is made regarding the availability of the user-specific spaces; and if a user-specific space is available, a transmission is initiated, intended for the user, providing the location of at least one available space. The systems, methods, and apparatus may be used to locate free spaces, may allow users to indicate when they are vacating a space to enable other users to access the space via a “park it forward” approach, and may assign available spaces to users based on an equitable prioritization protocol.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Inventors: Evan Humphreys, Denise Lisa Salvucci, Michael J. Kline
  • Patent number: 11932236
    Abstract: A method for operating a motor vehicle with regard to a parking operation to be carried out in a parking space, wherein the motor vehicle comprises a vehicle system designed to detect and select the parking space to be used from a plurality of candidate parking options, wherein at least one candidate parking option is associated with a transmitting device, from which the motor vehicle receives permissibility information describing the permissibility of parking the motor vehicle on the candidate parking option and/or of driving through at least a portion of a path leading to the candidate parking option, wherein the selection of the parking space to be used occurs dependent on the permissibility information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Audi AG
    Inventors: Werner Wilding, Malte Möller
  • Patent number: 11935409
    Abstract: A processing system including at least one processor may obtain a parking request for a vehicle to park at a parking facility and may offer a plurality of parking spots of the parking facility for the vehicle, where at least one of the plurality of parking spots that is offered is a parking spot that is predicted to be available, and where the offering includes presenting information regarding predicted adjacent parking spot occupancy of the at least one of the plurality of parking spots for a duration of an intended stay of the vehicle at the parking facility. The processing system may then obtain a selection of a parking spot from among the plurality of parking spots and reserve the parking spot for the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P.
    Inventors: Ginger Chien, Zhi Cui, Eric Zavesky, Robert T. Moton, Jr., Adrianne Binh Luu, Robert Koch
  • Patent number: 11930146
    Abstract: In a system in which a first electronic device, a server, and a second electronic device wirelessly communicate with each other, the first electronic device may detect object information associated with at least one object from a video being captured and may transmit the object information to the server, the server may identify a location of the object based on the object information and may transmit service information associated with the location of the object to the second electronic device, and the second electronic device may provide the service information to a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: THINKWARE CORPORATION
    Inventor: Chan Soo Park
  • Patent number: 11900694
    Abstract: A parking assist system for a vehicle includes an environment information obtainer, a storage, a parked vehicle detector, a space determiner, and a parking possibility determiner. The storage stores a reference parking width to be used for parking the vehicle. The parked vehicle detector detects a parked vehicle. The space determiner compares a width of a space next to the parked vehicle with the reference parking width and determines whether the width of the space is greater than or equal to the reference parking width. If the width of the space is found to be greater than or equal to the reference parking width, the parking possibility determiner determines whether a target object is detected at a back side of the space. If the target object is not detected, the parking possibility determiner determines that parking in the space is prohibited.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: SUBARU CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masayoshi Koiji, Otoki Yagi, Cong Kien Nguyen, Tomomi Heta, Reo Harada
  • Patent number: 11893643
    Abstract: A system may include one or more sensors that acquire location information associated with the one or more sensors. The system may also include a processor that receives a first set of data comprising environmental information associated with a location, receives the location information from the one or more sensors, and determines whether a risk of damage to property associated with at least one of the one or more sensors is greater than a threshold based on the location information and the environmental information. When the risk is greater than the threshold, the processor may send a notification including the risk of damage to the property to a computing device that may provide an audio or visual indication of the notification.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: United Services Automobile Association (USAA)
    Inventors: Richard McAlister, Susan Dunham, Randall Yarbrough, Anthony Bishop
  • Patent number: 11892818
    Abstract: A system and method are provided for automated engaging of a truck trailer at a loading dock. Sensors measure a distance and an angle of alignment between the incoming trailer and a wall of the loading dock. An outside lighting system guides a truck driver backing the trailer toward the dock door. A vehicle restraint system fixates the trailer within the loading dock in response to signals from the sensors. An overhead dock door opens once the trailer is successfully fixated by the vehicle restraint system. A dock leveler deploys after the overhead dock door opens. An inside dock light indicates to dock personnel that the trailer is ready to be serviced. Once servicing of the trailer is finished, an automated release of the trailer from the loading dock may be initiated by PLC communication.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: Niagara Bottling, LLC
    Inventors: Luis Ramos, Alex Sigala, Ken Cooper, Sergio Falcon, Ken Cooper, IV
  • Patent number: 11881107
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and other embodiments described herein relate to improving the identification of available parking spaces by inferring when a vehicle is likely to depart. In one embodiment, a method includes, responsive to acquiring sensor data about a surrounding environment including at least one parked vehicle, extracting a feature from the sensor data about a context of the parked vehicle. The method includes analyzing the feature to determine a status of the vehicle in relation to whether the vehicle is remaining parked. The method includes providing the status to inform additional vehicles about an availability of a parking spot of the parked vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
    Inventors: Seyhan Ucar, Takamasa Higuchi, Chang-Heng Wang, Onur Altintas
  • Patent number: 11878681
    Abstract: A method for operating a first vehicle (100) with a parking assistance system (110) is proposed, comprising: a) sensing an obstructing parked position (BP) of the first vehicle (100) by means of the parking assistance system (110), wherein the obstructing parked position (BP) is a parked position which adjoins a parking space (PP) occupied by a parked second vehicle (150), b) reception of a sensor signal, acquired by a sensor apparatus (120, 130) of the vehicle (100), by means of the parking assistance system (110), c) detecting a request to exit a parking space of the parked second vehicle (150) in accordance with the received sensor signal by means of the parking assistance system (110), and d) autonomously driving the first vehicle (100) from the obstructing parked position (BP) into a position which is different from the obstructing parked position (BP) in accordance with the detected request to exit a parking space by means of the parking assistance system (110).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: VALEO SCHALTER UND SENSOREN GMBH
    Inventor: Marco Heimberger
  • Patent number: 11875542
    Abstract: A parking assist system for a vehicle includes an environment information obtainer, a sufficient parking space setter, a parked-vehicle inter-space calculator, a parking capable space setter, and a parking assister. The environment information obtainer obtains environment information around the vehicle. The sufficient parking space setter sets a sufficient parking space for the vehicle by including a parking allowance width on each of left and right sides of the vehicle. The parked-vehicle inter-space calculator calculates a space between parked vehicles, based on the obtained environment information. The parking capable space setter compares the space between the parked vehicles with the sufficient parking space and, when determining the space between the parked vehicles is greater than or equal to the sufficient parking space, sets the space between the parked vehicles to be a parking capable space. The parking assister guides the vehicle to the parking capable space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: SUBARU CORPORATION
    Inventors: Otoki Yagi, Masayoshi Koiji, Reo Harada, Tomomi Heta, Cong Kien Nguyen
  • Patent number: 11875679
    Abstract: A vehicle presence detection system for determining whether a parking space is vacant or occupied and utilizing this information to guide vehicles to available parking spaces. generally includes a LIDAR device, a cloud-based processing unit, a database, and a guidance light. The LIDAR device generally includes a light emitter, a light sensor, a CPU, a memory unit, and a communications device. The LIDAR device determines the distance between itself and a parking spot or a vehicle parked in that parking spot using an algorithm that accounts for variances in the ambient conditions. This status information can be communicated to a cloud-based processing unit, which can store this information in a database and/or use this information to send parking status indications to an autonomous vehicle dynamic sign, mobile device, or guidance light.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: Frogparking Limited
    Inventor: Donald H. Sandbrook
  • Patent number: 11858367
    Abstract: A loading dock safety system integrated with an electric vehicle charging station is disclosed. The system employs an electric vehicle charging station for charging electric vehicles and a safety control device for monitoring and controlling the loading dock safety equipment. The electric vehicle charging station has a charging connector with an electronically controlled latching mechanism to secure the charging connector to the charging port of the electric vehicle. During the process of loading and unloading cargo from the electric vehicle, the charging connector is locked to the charging port, which, in turn, prevents the EV from departing from the loading dock until the transfer of cargo is complete.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Inventor: Carl James Mark Pancutt
  • Patent number: 11858534
    Abstract: A pick-up and drop-off area, which is a predetermined area in which an automated driving vehicle stops to pick up or drop off a user, includes a downstream area existing downstream of a standard stop space and an upstream area existing upstream of the standard stop space. An automated driving system controls the automated driving vehicle so as to stop in a target stop space in the pick-up and drop-off area. When the standard stop space is available, the standard stop space is set as the target stop space. When the standard stop space is not available for the automated driving vehicle to stop to drop off the user, the automated driving system searches for an upstream available space in the upstream area and preferentially sets the upstream available space as the target stop space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hiroshi Nakamura, Akihide Tachibana, Katsuhiro Sakai, Kentaro Ichikawa, Taisuke Sugaiwa