| Patent application number | Description | Published |
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| 20080215202 | Method and System for Guiding a Person to a Location - Method and system for guiding a person to a location includes providing a processor, coupling an operator control such as a user interface to the processor to enable the person to enter a phone number which is provided to the processor, the processor being arranged to determine a physical location associated with the entered phone number, and guiding the person to the physical location associated with the entered phone number as determined by the processor. The method may be implemented in a vehicle context whereby the processor is arranged on a vehicle and the person is guided to the physical location by controlling a steering system, a throttle and/or brakes of the vehicle to automatically guide the vehicle to the physical location. Alternatively, the person may be guided to the physical location by providing audible and/or visual directions to the person operating the vehicle. | 09-04-2008 |
| 20080215231 | Method for Obtaining Information about Objects Outside of a Vehicle - Method and system for obtaining information about traffic-related devices providing variable information includes providing a vehicle with a map database including the location of the devices, determining the location of the vehicle, as the location of the vehicle is determined to be approaching the location of each device, as known in the database, obtaining an image of the device, and analyzing the image to determine the status of the device. The vehicle may be controlled based on the status of the device, which is optionally displayed to the driver or other occupant of the vehicle. For example, when the device is a stoplight, the method can detect if the driver of the vehicle is slowing the vehicle when the stoplight is red, and if not, automatically cause the vehicle the slow down or stop. | 09-04-2008 |
| 20080216567 | Tire Monitoring System - Vehicular tire monitoring system includes an energy providing system arranged on the tire, and a sensor system arranged on the tire and coupled to the energy providing system to be provided with energy by the energy providing system. The sensor system obtains data about at least one property of the tire, such as pressure, and converts the data into signals. An communication system is arranged on a frame of the vehicle and wirelessly communicates with the sensor system to receive the signals from the sensor system and derives, from the signals, the data obtained by the sensor system. A reactive system on the frame of the vehicle may be responsive to the data obtained by the sensor system, e.g., a display to display the data about the tire such as its pressure, or a communications system which transmits data about the tire to a remote site. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080234899 | Vehicular Occupant Sensing and Component Control Techniques - Method and system for obtaining information about a category of an occupying item in a volume of a passenger compartment of a vehicle in which the occupying item is situated during use of the vehicle and controlling one or more vehicular components. A time-varying signal is directed into the volume from at least one location. A modification of the directed signal arising from a property of any occupying items in the volume is detected, different occupying items causing different modifications of the same directed signal. A distinction is made between different occupying items of the volume or between parts of an occupying item based on the detected modification to the directed signal and each component, e.g., an inflatable airbag, is controlled based on the distinction between the occupying items or parts thereof. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20080236275 | Remote Monitoring of Fluid Storage Tanks - Arrangement and method for monitoring a fluid storage tank which includes a housing defining an interior receivable of a removable fluid. An interior sensor system is arranged on the housing to obtain information about any fluid in the interior of the housing different than the location of the tank. A location determining system is arranged on the housing to monitor the location of the tank, and a communication system is coupled to the interior sensor system and the location determining system and which is arranged to transmit the information about the fluid in the interior of the housing and the location of the tank to one or more remote facilities. The communication system may be arranged on the housing itself, which is especially applicable when the housing is movable, for example, such as the housing of a Frac tank. The location and condition of the fluid in the tank can thus be known at all times. | 10-02-2008 |
| 20080250869 | Remote Monitoring of Fluid Pipelines - Pipeline including a system for monitoring fluid flowing through the pipeline includes a conduit defining an interior and at least one sensor assembly arranged in the interior. Each sensor assembly includes an energy generating system and at least one flow measuring device coupled to the energy generating system to be powered thereby. The flow measuring device provides information about flow of fluid in the conduit. The information may be transmitted to a remote monitoring location via a telematics or communications unit connected to each sensor assembly. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080262646 | Package Tracking Techniques - Method and system for tracking packages including readable indicia in a movable cargo container includes mounting at least one scanner to an interior surface of the container capable of reading the indicia on, in or associated with the packages, operatively reading the indicia from the packages, converting the read indicia into an identification of the packages, and transmitting the package identifications to a remote facility. Each scanner may be controlled to read the indicia at predetermined times, upon command from the remote facility or upon detection of an event which could result in a change in the contents of the container. A positioning system may be arranged on the container to determine its location and the location of the container transmitted with the package identifications. This provides an entity managing the delivery or transport of the packages with an efficient way to track its package in real-time. | 10-23-2008 |
| 20080270076 | Remote Monitoring of Operating Parts of Assets - Method and system for monitoring a movable asset including an operating part for maintaining an environment in an interior space of the asset conducive to transport of objects includes incorporating a diagnostic module into the asset for diagnosing the operating part, obtaining a diagnosis via the diagnostic module of the operating condition of the operating part, determining whether the diagnosis indicates an abnormal operating condition of the operating part, and when the determination of the diagnosis indicates an abnormal operating condition, transmitting a signal indicative of the abnormal operating condition in association with an identification of the asset to a remote facility. The operating part may be a refrigeration unit and the asset may be a cargo container, e.g., a reefer. In this case, determining whether the diagnosis indicates an abnormal operating condition of the operating part may entail determining whether refrigerant is leaking from the refrigeration unit. | 10-30-2008 |
| 20080272906 | Vehicle Monitoring Using Cellular Phones - Method and system for using a cell phone or PDA includes coupling the cell phone or PDA to a vehicle-resident computer, using the cell phone or PDA to provide information and providing the information from the cell phone or PDA to the vehicle-resident computer to enable the vehicle-resident computer to use the information. It can establish communications between the cell phone or PDA and a remote location to provide information obtained via the cell phone or PDA to the remote location. The cell phone or PDA can monitor received sounds at the cell phone or PDA, e.g., via a microphone, and analyze the received sounds and transmit a signal indicative of the received sounds to a remote facility. The cell phone or PDA may be trained to recognize the sounds of accidents and transmit an accident indication signal to the remote facility. | 11-06-2008 |
| 20080272923 | Monitoring of an Asset for Chemicals - Chemical monitoring system and method for an asset including a frame defining an interior space. One or more chemical sensors are arranged in connection with the frame to determine the presence of a chemical in the interior space and a reactive or responsive system is arranged to react to the determined presence of the chemical in the interior space. The monitoring system can serve as an electronic nose which detects potentially harmful chemical and prevents exposure of people in the interior space and those handling, e.g., by providing a warning about the chemical presence, or notifying a remote facility about the chemical (which may be indicative of a leak in the cargo in the asset). | 11-06-2008 |
| 20080276191 | Vehicular Heads-Up Display System - Heads-up display arrangements for vehicles including a seat in which an occupant sits, a system for forming an image of text and/or graphics in a field of view of the occupant, a determination arrangement for determining a position of the occupant (or a part thereof) and an adjustment system for adjusting the seat based on the occupant's determined position to thereby change the orientation of the occupant relative to the image. Change of the orientation of the occupant relative to the image may entail adjusting the seat and/or adjusting the image forming system, which is often a heads-up display system. Adjustment of the seat may involve moving the seat forward or backward and/or up or down, or any other direction or way possible given the construction of the seat. | 11-06-2008 |
| 20080282817 | Remote Monitoring of Fixed Structures - Arrangement and method for monitoring a structure at a fixed location, e.g., a house, parked boat or parked airplane, includes a monitoring or sensor system arranged to obtain information about the structure, an exterior of the structure and/or an interior of the structure different than the location of the structure, and a communication system coupled to the sensor system and being provided with a location of the structure. The communication system transmits the information about the structure obtained by the sensor system and the location of the structure to a remote facility. The remote facility can therefore monitor the structure, and take steps to ensure the integrity of the reservoir and the fluid therein. To enable wireless and powerless monitoring, a power source independent of a power grid extending outside of the fixed structure may be provided to supply power to the sensor system and the communications unit. | 11-20-2008 |
| 20080284575 | Vehicle Diagnostic Techniques - Vehicle with diagnostic capability includes different vehicle-resident sensors, each providing a measurement related to a state of the sensor or a measurement related to a state of the mounting location of the sensor, a vehicle-resident diagnostic processor coupled to the sensors and arranged to receive data from the sensors and process the data to generate an output indicative or representative of a state of the vehicle or a state of a component of the vehicle, and a communications device coupled to the diagnostic system and arranged to automatically establish a communications channel between the vehicle and a remote facility without manual intervention and wirelessly transmit the output of the diagnostic system to the remote facility. The processor may embody a pattern recognition algorithm trained to generate the output from the data received from the sensors. | 11-20-2008 |
| 20080294315 | System and Method for Controlling Vehicle Headlights - Control system and method for automatically controlling headlights of a vehicle includes an optical system for imaging external sources of light within a predetermined field of view and an image processing system for processing images from the optical system and providing a control signal for controlling the headlights as a function of the processed images. Processing the images may entail identifying a source of radiation in the images, the control signal being provided to dim the headlights when a source of radiation in the images is identified as a headlight or taillight of another vehicle. To this end, the image processing system may include a trained pattern recognition system for processing the images to identify the source of radiation, e.g., a pattern recognition algorithm generated from data of possible sources of radiation including headlights and taillights of vehicles and patterns of received radiation from the possible sources. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20090015400 | Shipping Container Monitoring Based on Door Status - Remotely monitorable shipping container assembly including a shipping container including at least one door, a door status sensor for monitoring the open or closed status of the door(s) and a communications device mounted on the container and wirelessly transmitting information to one or more remote facilities including the status of the door(s) as monitored by the door status sensor. The remote facility may be for example, a facility interested in ensuring the integrity of the contents of the container, a facility which is charged with preventing theft of the contents of the containers, a law enforcement facility which is responsible for preventing transport of illegal cargo, and the like. A positioning system may be arranged on the container for determining a position thereof. The communications device is coupled to the positioning system and transmits the determined position of the container with the open or closed status of the door(s). | 01-15-2009 |
| 20090030605 | Positioning System - System for determining accurate position of an object such as a vehicle includes a GPS positioning system arranged to communicate with one or more satellites to obtain GPS signals therefrom, a correction unit coupled to the positioning system and arranged to receive or derive positional corrections for positional data derived from the GPS signals to thereby improve accuracy of the position of the object provided by the positioning system, and a notification system for notifying a person concerned with the position of the object about the current position of the object. The correction unit may be a DGPS-based correction unit arranged to communicate with satellites to receive positional corrections therefrom and/or communicate with ground base stations to receive positional corrections therefrom. | 01-29-2009 |
| 20090033540 | Accident Avoidance Systems and Methods - Accident avoidance system for a host vehicle includes a global positioning system residing on the host vehicle for determining the host vehicle's location as the host vehicle travels, a communication system residing on the host vehicle operative to receive signals including information received directly from other vehicles indicating the locations thereof and traffic information received from an infrastructure-based station indicating the locations of other vehicles, and a navigation system residing on the host vehicle coupled to the global positioning system and the communication system. The navigation system displays images representing a vicinity associated with the host vehicle and showing indications of the locations of the other vehicles within the vicinity derived from the information received directly from the other vehicles and the traffic information received from the infrastructure-based station to thereby reduce the likelihood of a collision occurring between the host vehicle and the other vehicles. | 02-05-2009 |
| 20090039625 | Vehicular Occupant Protection Method Using Airbags - Method for protecting an occupant of a vehicle using an inflatable airbag includes sealing sheets of film to form a sealed airbag having interconnected compartments receivable of inflating gas and a port through which the compartments are inflated, and positioning the airbag, when in an uninflated state, into a recessed portion alongside the passenger compartment. The airbag is positioned to extend, when inflated, across a side of the passenger compartment between occupant seating positions on that side of the vehicle and a portion of the vehicle defining the passenger compartment. A pressurized gas source inflates the airbag so that when an accident is sensed and a determination is made to inflate the airbag, gas enters into and inflate the airbag through the port thereby causing the airbag to extend across the side of the passenger compartment. | 02-12-2009 |
| 20090043506 | Method and System for Controlling Timing of Vehicle Transmissions - Method and system for controlling timing of wireless transmissions from vehicles to other vehicles or to infrastructure includes arranging a clock on each vehicle, transmitting positioning signals including a time, arranging a receiver on the vehicle to receive the positioning signals, recalibrating the clock based on the positioning signals to obtain an accurate time, and controlling transmissions from a transmitter on the vehicle based on the accurate time provided by the clock after recalibration. The clock may be recalibrated after each reception of a positioning signal or only at specific timed intervals or based on specific occurrences. | 02-12-2009 |
| 20090046538 | Apparatus and method for Determining Presence of Objects in a Vehicle - Vehicle including a first substructure and a second substructure arranged such that an interior space is defined by or between the first and second substructures, and an arrangement for determining whether an object is present in the interior space. The arrangement includes ultrasonic transducers arranged on the second substructure and to transmit ultrasonic waves toward the first substructure and receive any waves reflected by objects in the interior space and a processor coupled to the ultrasonic transducers and arranged to determine whether an object is present in the interior space based on reception of waves by the ultrasonic transducers. If the vehicle is an automobile and the interior space is the passenger compartment therein, the first substructure can be the passenger seat and the second substructure can be the A-pillar, in which case, the processor determines the presence or absence of a passenger in the passenger seat. | 02-19-2009 |
| 20090048750 | Vehicle-Traffic Control Device Communication Techniques - Method and arrangement for controlling vehicular traffic via traffic control devices includes establishing communications between the traffic control devices and vehicles approaching the traffic control devices, and providing information about travel of the vehicle to the traffic control devices to enable the traffic control devices to operate based on the provided information and/or providing information about a status of the traffic control devices to the vehicles to enable the vehicles to operate based on the provided information. The traffic control devices can be constructed to determine whether an approaching vehicle is speeding and if so, direct a communication to the vehicle indicating that the vehicle is speeding. A warning may be provided to an occupant of the vehicle when the vehicle is provided with a communication from a traffic control device indicating that the vehicle is speeding. | 02-19-2009 |
| 20090058593 | Hazardous Material Transportation Monitoring Techniques - Method and arrangement for monitoring transport of hazardous materials includes arranging at least one sensor capable of detecting hazardous materials on a vehicle, transmitting information about the detection of hazardous materials by each sensor upon approach of the vehicle to infrastructure regulating the transport of the hazardous materials, and regulating the transit of the vehicle relative to the infrastructure based on whether any sensor provides information about the presence of hazardous materials on the vehicle. When the vehicles are trucks having trailers, each sensor can be arranged to detect hazardous materials in the trailer. When transit of hazardous materials through or over the infrastructure is prohibited, regulating the transit of the vehicle relative to the infrastructure may entail preventing the vehicle from passing through or over the infrastructure, e.g., by interposing a barrier to the vehicle's passage through or over the infrastructure. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090066065 | Optical Occupant Sensing Techniques - Vehicular system for determining the presence of an object in a passenger compartment of the vehicle includes a first image receiver arranged at a first location for obtaining a first two-dimensional view of a portion of the compartment, and a second image receiver arranged at a second location for obtaining a second two-dimensional view of the same portion of the compartment, the second image receiver being arranged relative to the first image receiver such that three dimensions of the portion of the compartment are encompassed by the first and second views. A processor receives images from the first and second image receivers and determines whether an object is present in the compartment based on the images. A reactive system, such as an airbag assembly, may be coupled to the processor and controlled thereby based on the determination of whether an object is present in the imaged portion of the compartment. | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090092284 | Light Modulation Techniques for Imaging Objects in or around a Vehicle - Method and system for obtaining information about an object in a compartment in a vehicle includes directing illumination into the compartment, spatial or temporally modulating the illumination, receiving light reflected from an object in the compartment, and analyzing the reflected light to obtain information about the object. The compartment may be a passenger compartment of an automobile, the trunk of an automobile or the interior of a trailer of a truck. The illumination may be directed from a light source and the reflected light received at a receiver spaced apart from the light source. Analysis of the reflected light may therefore entail applying a triangulation calculation to enable a determination of a distance between the light source and illuminated point on the object. The same method and system can be adapted for monitoring the environment around the vehicle. | 04-09-2009 |
| 20090132129 | Side Impact Sensor Systems - Vehicle including an occupant protection apparatus for protecting an occupant in the event of an impact into a side of the vehicle and an electronic side impact crash sensor for detecting the side impact and which includes a sensor housing positioned to cause lateral movement of the sensor housing responsive to the side impact, a movable sensing mass within the sensor housing and move laterally relative to the sensor housing in response to the side impact, and a control unit connected to the crash sensor for activating the occupant protection apparatus. The crash sensor generates a signal representative of the movement of the sensing mass. The control unit includes a micro-processor and an algorithm processed by the micro-processor and configured to analyze the signal representative of the movement of the sensing mass and generate a deployment signal based thereon to initiate deployment of the occupant protection apparatus. | 05-21-2009 |
| 20090140887 | Mapping Techniques Using Probe Vehicles - Method for mapping terrain including one or more roads includes equipping a probe vehicle with cameras, accurate RTK DGPS and appropriate illumination including at least one laser pointer, obtaining images using the cameras when illuminating an area being imaged using the laser pointer(s), obtaining position information using the DGPS while the camera is obtaining images, and converting the images to a map at a remote location apart from the vehicle using the position information. Infrared illumination in the eye-safe portion of the spectrum is directed into the area being imaged in conjunction with the cameras such that the cameras obtained images of illuminated areas. | 06-04-2009 |
| 20090143923 | Arrangement and Method for Monitoring Shipping Containers - Arrangement for monitoring the weight of a shipping container includes a strain gage-based sensor system arranged to obtain information about the weight of a container and comprising one or more strain gage weight sensors for measuring weight at a mounting location, a wireless communication system arranged to receive the weight measured by the weight sensors and process the received weight into an indication of the weight of the shipping container or the weight of contents therein, and a wireless interrogator controlled by a processor to initiate a transmission of the weight measured by the weight sensors to the communication system. | 06-04-2009 |
| 20090261979 | Driver Fatigue Monitoring System and Method - Method and system for monitoring a vehicle driver includes an optical imaging system that obtains images of the driver, and a processor coupled to the optical imaging system and arranged to analyze the images obtained by the optical imaging system to locate a head of the driver in the images and monitor the driver's head or a part thereof over time. The processor also determines, based on the monitoring of the driver's head or part thereof, whether the driver has lost the ability to operate the vehicle. A reactive component is affected by the processor's determination that the driver has lost the ability to operate the vehicle, and requires action by the driver to indicate regaining of the ability to operate the vehicle or exerting control over the vehicle to slow the vehicle and bring it to a stop. | 10-22-2009 |
| 20100052945 | Vehicular Communication Arrangement and Method - Accident avoidance system using an infrastructure system to convey location information between vehicles includes at least two vehicles approaching or traveling on a roadway and each having onboard, a position determining system onboard that receives satellite positioning signals from a plurality of satellites and determines location information based on the satellite positioning signals, a transmitter that transmits the location information for the vehicle to an infrastructure system, a receiver that receives location information for another vehicle from the infrastructure system, and an accident risk warning system that alerts its operator of a risk of an accident based on the location information for any other vehicles and map data representing the roadway including edges or lane boundaries of the roadway. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100057305 | Exterior Airbag Deployment Techniques - Externally deployed airbag system for a vehicle including one or more inflatable airbags deployable outside of the vehicle, an anticipatory sensor system for assessing the probable severity of an impact involving the vehicle based on data obtained prior to the impact and initiating inflation of the airbag(s) in the event an impact above a threshold severity is assessed, and an inflator coupled to the anticipatory sensor system and the airbag for inflating the airbag when initiated by the anticipatory sensor system. The airbag may be housed in a module mounted along a side of the vehicle, in a side door of the vehicle (both for side impact protection), at a front of the vehicle (for frontal impact protection) or at a rear of the vehicle (for rear impact protection). Also, the externally deployed airbag can be deployed to cushion a pedestrian's impact against the vehicle. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100141435 | ASSET MONITORING USING THE INTERNET - Asset including an arrangement for monitoring objects in an interior of the asset includes a sensor system arranged on or in the asset to obtain data about the asset or an object in the asset and a communication system arranged on the asset and coupled to the sensor system. The communication system transmits the data obtained by the sensor system to a remote facility via the Internet. A data reception system is arranged on the asset arranged to obtain data to enable the position of the asset to be determined, i.e., at the remote facility, and is coupled to the communication system which transmits the data to enable the remote facility to determine the location of the asset. The sensor system may be integrated with a cell phone or PDA. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20100169009 | Accident Avoidance System - Accident avoidance system onboard a host vehicle includes a position determining system for determining position information for the host vehicle based on signals received from a plurality of satellites, a transmitter for broadcasting the position information for the host vehicle to locations remote from the host vehicle, a receiver for receiving a traffic information broadcast from an infrastructure system including vehicle position information received from position-reporting vehicles and vehicle position information received from an active position determining system that acquires position information for non-position-reporting vehicles. and an accident risk warning system. The risk warning system alerts an operator of the host vehicle of a risk of an accident involving the host vehicle based on the vehicle position information for the host vehicle and map data representing a roadway that the host vehicle is approaching or traveling on including edges or lane boundaries of the roadway. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100268423 | Occupant Protection Systems Control Techniques - Control system for controlling at least one occupant protection system of a vehicle includes a plurality of preferably electronic sensor systems mounted at different locations on the vehicle, each sensor system providing a measurement related to a state thereof system or a measurement related to a state of the mounting location. A processor is coupled to the sensor systems and diagnoses the state of the vehicle based on the measurements of the sensor systems. The processor controls each occupant protection system based at least in part on the diagnosed state of the vehicle. The occupant protection system may be a deployable airbag whose deployment is controlled by the processor based on the diagnosed state of the vehicle. The diagnosis of the state of the vehicle may be a diagnosis of the overall condition of the vehicle with respect to its stability or a diagnosis of the vehicle itself. | 10-21-2010 |
| 20100280751 | Road physical condition monitoring techniques - Arrangement and method for managing information about the condition of travel lanes on which vehicles travel includes a sensor system arranged in each vehicle for obtaining information about the maintenance state of the travel lane, a communication system arranged in each vehicle and coupled to a respective sensor system for communicating the obtained information to a control station, and a transmission system arranged at or coupled to the control station for transmitting the obtained information to vehicles other than the one which provided the obtained information. A positioning system may be arranged on each vehicle to determine its position and the communication systems transmit the position of each vehicle along with the obtained information. | 11-04-2010 |
| 20100283626 | Coastal Monitoring Techniques - Method and system for monitoring coastlines includes arranging sensors proximate the coastline, obtaining data about the coastline via the sensors, analyzing the data to determine the presence of a reportable condition relating to passage of an object proximate the coastline, and transmitting the data or a signal indicative of the analysis, optionally with an identification or location of the sensors, to a monitoring facility. The sensors may be spaced apart from one another along the coastline and programmed to wake-up upon detection of a predetermined condition in order to obtain data. If the location of each sensor is not programmed into the sensor or otherwise known by the monitoring facility, each sensor may be arranged to determine its location so that each sensor provides its location when transmitting data or the signal to the monitoring facility. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20110042929 | FILM AIRBAGS - Inflatable airbag for a vehicle which is deployed in the event of an accident involving the vehicle to provide protection for an occupant of the vehicle includes a plurality of ribbons coupled together to define an enclosed, fluid-retaining space and a layer of film laminated on at least one of an outer side of the woven ribbons and an inner side of the ribbons. The ribbons each have a width of less than about 3 mm and preferably about 0.5 to about 1 mm. The ribbons may be made from polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester or polyamide and the layers of film may be made from polyethylene, polyurethane, polyester or polyamide. The ribbons and layers of film may be made of the same or different materials. | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110095940 | Asset Monitoring Using Micropower Impulse Radar - Arrangement and method for monitoring inanimate objects in an interior thereof includes a sensor system arranged to obtain data about the object by applying micropower impulse radar (MIR) transmissions into the interior of the asset, i.e., container volume monitoring using MIR, a location determining system arranged on the asset to monitor the location of the asset, and a communication system arranged on the asset and coupled to the sensor system and the location determining system. The communication system transmits the data about each object obtained by the sensor system and the location of the asset provided by the location determining system to one or more remote facilities, these remote facilities being those interested in the information about the objects in the asset being monitored. | 04-28-2011 |
