IP Library Granted Patent US 12,402,810
Granted Patent B2
US 12,402,810 · App. 17/505,349 · Granted Sep 2, 2025

Transport gait and gesture interpretation

Inventor: Stephen Paul McFarland, Jr. (Allen, TX)
Assignee: TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC.
A61B5/112A61B5/1126A61B5/7405A61B5/742
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,402,810
App. No.
17/505,349
Granted
Sep 2, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

An example operation includes one or more of receiving, by a computer associated with a transport, a gait of an individual from at least one sensor associated with the transport, validating, by the computer, the gait when the gait has corresponding frequency occurrence statistics above a predetermined gait threshold, responsive to the validating, providing, by the computer, access to the transport by the individual, receiving, by the computer, a sequence of gestures of the individual from at the at least one sensor, wherein the sequence of gestures corresponds to a function, validating, by the computer, the sequence of gestures, and responsive to the validating, performing, by the computer, the function responsive to the sequence of gestures being recognized as a known match with a pattern stored in memory.

Claims (63)

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a computer associated with a transport, a gait of an individual from at least one sensor associated with the transport;

validating, by the computer, the gait when the gait has corresponding frequency occurrence statistics above a predetermined gait threshold;

responsive to the validating, providing, by the computer, access to the transport by the individual;

receiving, by the computer, a sequence of gestures of the individual from at the at least one sensor, wherein the sequence of gestures corresponds to a function;

validating, by the computer, the sequence of gestures; and

responsive to the validating, performing, by the computer, the function responsive to the sequence of gestures being recognized as a known match with a pattern stored in memory.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining of the gait comprises one or more of:

analyzing motion of the individual, a pace of the individual, leg movement of the individual, torso movement of the individual, arm movement of the individual, and head movement of the individual.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sequence of gestures is provided in response to an indication by the transport to the individual, the indication comprising at least one of:

flashing one or more lights of the transport;

transmitting an audible message or tone from the transport to the individual; and

providing a notification to a device associated with the individual.

4. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

receiving, by a device associated with the individual, the sequence of gestures; and

sending, by the device, the sequence of gestures to the transport.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the function is comprised of one or more of unlocking a transport door, starting an engine of the transport, utilizing a transport heater or air conditioner, utilizing a transport entertainment system, and a summon function of the transport.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sequence of gestures enables a sequence of functions of the transport.

7. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

receiving, by a server, one or more of the validated gait and the validated sequence of gestures; and

providing, by the server, access to another structure, based on the receiving.

8. A system, comprising:

a processor of a computer associated with a transport; a memory on which are stored machine-readable instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

receive a gait of an individual from at least one sensor associated with the transport;

validate the gait when the gait has corresponding frequency occurrence statistics above a predetermined gait threshold;

responsive to the validate, provide access to the transport by the individual;

receive a sequence of gestures of the individual from at the at least one sensor, wherein the sequence of gestures corresponds to a function;

validate the sequence of gestures; and

responsive to the validate, perform the function responsive to the sequence of gestures are recognized as a known match with a pattern stored in memory.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the determine of the gait comprises one or more of:

analyze motion of the individual, a pace of the individual, leg movement of the individual, torso movement of the individual, arm movement of the individual, and head movement of the individual.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the sequence of gestures is provided in response to an indication by the transport to the individual, the indication comprising at least one of:

flashing one or more lights of the transport;

transmit an audible message or tone from the transport to the individual; and

provide a notification to a device associated with the individual.

11. The system of claim 8 , comprising:

receive, by a device associated with the individual, the sequence of gestures; and

send, by the device, the sequence of gestures to the transport.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the function is comprised of one or more of unlock a transport door, start an engine of the transport, utilize a transport heater or air conditioner, utilize a transport entertainment system, and a summon function of the transport.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the sequence of gestures enables a sequence of functions of the transport.

14. The system of claim 8 , comprising:

receive, by a server, one or more of the validated gait and the validated sequence of gestures; and

provide, by the server, access to another structure, based on the receiving.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions, that when read by a processor, cause the processor to perform:

receiving, by a computer associated with a transport, a gait of an individual from at least one sensor associated with the transport;

validating, by the computer, the gait when the gait has corresponding frequency occurrence statistics above a predetermined gait threshold;

responsive to the validating, providing, by the computer, access to the transport by the individual;

receiving, by the computer, a sequence of gestures of the individual from at the at least one sensor, wherein the sequence of gestures corresponds to a function;

validating, by the computer, the sequence of gestures; and

responsive to the validating, performing, by the computer, the function responsive to the sequence of gestures being recognized as a known match with a pattern stored in memory.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the determining of the gait comprises one or more of:

analyzing motion of the individual, a pace of the individual, leg movement of the individual, torso movement of the individual, arm movement of the individual, and head movement of the individual.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the sequence of gestures is provided in response to an indication by the transport to the individual, the indication comprising at least one of:

flashing one or more lights of the transport;

transmitting an audible message or tone from the transport to the individual; and

providing a notification to a device associated with the individual.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , comprising:

receiving, by a device associated with the individual, the sequence of gestures; and

sending, by the device, the sequence of gestures to the transport.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the sequence of gestures enables a sequence of functions of the transport.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , comprising:

receiving, by a server, one or more of the validated gait and the validated sequence of gestures; and

providing, by the server, access to another structure, based on the receiving.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 22, 2025
From: TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC.
To: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Reel/Frame 072645/0529 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 19, 2021
From: MCFARLAND, STEPHEN PAUL, JR.
To: TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA, INC.
Reel/Frame 057838/0356 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation In Part 16837984 · Apr 1, 2020
Related Publication 20220031197A1 · Feb 3, 2022
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