Granted Patent B2

US 12,576,842 · App. 18/228,574 · Granted Mar 17, 2026

Inventors: Wutu Lin (San Diego, CA); Liu Liu (San Diego, CA); Zijie Xuan (San Diego, CA); Xing Sun (San Diego, CA); Kai-Chieh Ma (San Diego, CA); Yufei Zhao (San Diego, CA)

Assignee: CreateAI, Inc.

B60W30/16B60W30/143B60W2420/408B60W2520/10B60W2554/801B60W2554/804B60W2720/10B60W2754/30

Abstract

Claims (33)

1 . An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory storing computer program instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

receive input object data comprising camera image data processed by an image data processor to detect a target vehicle proximate to a host vehicle;

determine, based on the input object data, a weighted relative speed and a weighted separation distance between the target vehicle and the host vehicle; and

generate a velocity command to adjust a speed of the host vehicle based on the weighted relative speed and the weighted separation distance between the host vehicle and the target.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the input object data includes image data from a camera and distance data from one or more light imaging, detection, and ranging (LIDAR) sensors.

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the weighted separation distance includes pre-defined distance thresholds, the pre-defined distance thresholds being defined separately for an area in front of the host vehicle, an area to the left of the host vehicle, and an area to the right of the host vehicle.

4 . The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the pre-defined distance threshold for the area in front of the host vehicle is greater than the pre-defined distance threshold for the area to the left of the host vehicle and greater than the pre-defined distance threshold for the area to the right of the host vehicle.

5 . The apparatus of claim 1 being further configured to cause the host vehicle to avoid blind spots of the target vehicle based on relative speeds and separation distances between the host vehicle and the target vehicle.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 being further configured to:

compute differentials (Δd) of separation distances between the each of a plurality of target vehicles and the host vehicle over time; and

to compute differentials (Δv) of speeds of the plurality of target vehicles relative to the host vehicle over time.

7 . The apparatus of claim 1 being further configured to compute a predicted position and speed of the target vehicle at a future point in time.

8 . The apparatus of claim 7 being further configured to determine whether the predicted position of the target vehicle will encroach a pre-defined safety boundary around the host vehicle.

9 . The apparatus of claim 1 being further configured to direct a vehicle control subsystem of the host vehicle to cause the host vehicle to achieve a speed corresponding to the velocity command.

10 . A method comprising:

receiving input object data comprising camera image data processed by an image data processor to detect a target vehicle proximate to a host vehicle;

determining, based on the input object data, a weighted relative speed and a weighted separation distance between the target vehicle and the host vehicle; and

generating a velocity command to adjust a speed of the host vehicle based on the weighted relative speed and the weighted separation distance between the host vehicle and the target.

11 . The method of claim 10 wherein the input object data includes distance data from one or more light imaging, detection, and ranging (LIDAR) sensors.

12 . The method of claim 10 wherein the weighted separation distance includes pre-defined distance thresholds, the pre-defined distance thresholds being defined separately for an area in front of the host vehicle, an area to the left of the host vehicle, and an area to the right of the host vehicle.

13 . The method of claim 12 wherein the pre-defined distance threshold for the area in front of the host vehicle is greater than the pre-defined distance threshold for the area to the left of the host vehicle and greater than the pre-defined distance threshold for the area to the right of the host vehicle.

14 . The method of claim 10 including computing differentials (Δd) of separation distances between the target vehicle and the host vehicle over time.

15 . The method of claim 10 including computing differentials (Δv) of speeds of the target vehicle relative to the host vehicle over time.

16 . The method of claim 10 including computing a predicted position and speed of the target vehicle at a future point in time.

17 . A non-transitory machine-useable storage medium embodying instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:

receive input object data comprising camera image data processed by an image data processor to detect a target vehicle proximate to a host vehicle;

determine, based on the input object data, a weighted relative speed and a weighted separation distance between the target vehicle and the host vehicle; and

generate a velocity command to adjust a speed of the host vehicle based on the weighted relative speed and the weighted separation distance between the host vehicle and the target.

18 . The non-transitory machine-useable storage medium of claim 17 wherein the input object data includes distance data from one or more light imaging, detection, and ranging (LIDAR) sensors.

19 . The non-transitory machine-useable storage medium of claim 17 being further configured to compute a predicted position and speed of the target vehicle at a future point in time.

20 . The non-transitory machine-useable storage medium of claim 19 being further configured to determine whether the predicted position of the target vehicle will encroach a pre-defined safety boundary around the host vehicle.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (4)

References Cited (212)