Here Global B.v.

Navigation Technologies Corporation

Navteq North America, LLC

Nokia Technologies Oy

Navteq B.v.

Frank J Kozak

Lawrence M Kaplan

William N Gale

Joseph P Mays

Mark Barton

Timothy W Gibson

Ole Henry Dorum

James Herbst

Aaron I Crane

David Shuman

Jon D Shutter

M Salahuddin Khan

Stephan V Bechtolsheim

Chris Dougherty

Robert Gourdine

Joseph R Roberts

George B Filley

Ryan Allard

An apparatus, method and system utilize an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) in order to support the definition and use of routes by bicyclists, pedestrians or scooters. With respect to defining a bicycle route a map database is accessed that represents roads segments in a geographic area. The map database contains map data that indicates attributes of the road segments. The bicycle route is then defined from an origin to a destination based upon the map data indicative of attributes of the road segments. In this regard, the bicycle route is defined to include one or more road segments that allow bicycle traffic unaccompanied by a UAV and one or more road segments for which bicycle traffic is unauthorized unless accompanied by a UAV. The bicycle route is subsequently caused to be provided to the bicyclist or a device accessible to the bicyclist.

Method and apparatus for utilizing an unmanned air vehicle to define or provide guidance along a route

The destination for a drone is dynamically deteremined. In the context of a method, location-related data may be collected with a drone. After having collected at least some of the location-related data, a destination for the drone is determined based at least in part upon a location of the drone. The drone is then caused to travel from the location to the destination. In some instances, the drone may travel toward the destination by being carried by a vehicle that is traveling along a route toward the destination.

Method and apparatus for dynamically determining a destination of a drone

A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided to collect additional location-related data. In the context of a method, for example, an entity in motion is identified and a drone is caused to accompany the entity that has been identified and to collect the location-related data while accompanying the entity. After having collected at least some location-related data, the method includes causing the drone to discontinue accompanying of the entity and to travel toward a destination.

Drone-based collection of location-related data

Disclosed herein are methods of providing location-based information with respect to a topological map. A method may include (a) receiving a query for location-related information, (b) optionally generating data representing the topological map, (c) accessing the location-related information in a map-to-scale, (d) optionally determining an association between one or more points (or links) in the map-to-scale and one or more corresponding points (or links) in a topological map, (e) identifying one or more points (or links) in the map-to-scale that relate to the location-related information and that correspond to one or more points (or links) in the topological map, (f) optionally determining a relative position of the location-related information with respect to the identified one or more map-to-scale points (or links), and (g) displaying the location-related information with respect to the corresponding one or more points (or links) in the topological map.

Navigable topological maps

A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided, for example, to detect and to provide alerting of a part of a vehicle subsequently moving into the path of travel of a bicyclist or other vehicle. In the context of a method, one or more events indicative of a part of a vehicle subsequently moving into a path of a bicyclist are detected. The method also includes taking an action, responsive to detection of the one or more events, to reduce the risk to a person outside the vehicle or another vehicle proximate the door of the vehicle, such as by providing an alert as to the vehicle subsequently moving into the path of the bicyclist or to at least temporarily prevent the vehicle from subsequently moving into the path of the bicyclist.

Method and apparatus for taking an action based upon movement of a part of a vehicle into a path of travel

A traffic control system, a controller and an associated method are provided to direct a vehicle to slow or, in some instances, stop at a defined spatial location along the roadway. In the context of a controller, the controller includes at least one processor and memory including computer program code with the memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the controller to receive information indicative of at least one characteristic of the behavior of the vehicle as the vehicle approaches a defined location. Based on the information, the controller is caused to compare the behavior of the vehicle to a defined criterion and, in response, to cause an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) to maintain a hovering position in which the UAV hovers above the roadway so as to be within the path of travel of the vehicle on the roadway.

Traffic control system, controller and method for directing vehicle behavior at a defined spatial location

An approach is provided for intelligent inspection and interaction between a vehicle and a drone. The approach, for example, involves retrieving vehicle specification data for the vehicle. The vehicle specification data identifies one or more sensors of the vehicle, one or more sensor locations on the vehicle corresponding to the one or more sensors, or a combination thereof. The approach also involves configuring the drone device to move from a docked location to the one or more sensor locations on the vehicle based on the vehicle specification data. The approach further involves initiating an inspection function, an interaction function, or a combination thereof between the drone device and the vehicle when the drone device is positioned in proximity to the one or more sensor locations.

Method and apparatus for intelligent inspection and interaction between a vehicle and a drone

A method and apparatus for providing adaptive transitioning between operational modes of an autonomous vehicle. In one embodiment, the vehicle is a land-based passenger-carrying vehicle that travels on a road network and has an automatic mode in which one or more systems control travel of the vehicle on the road network. A system provides a modification of the operation of the vehicle to defer a transition time at which a transition occurs from the automatic mode to a manual mode to extend a period of time during which the vehicle is operated in the automatic mode beyond an earlier possible time at which the transition could occur.

Method and apparatus for providing adaptive transitioning between operational modes of an autonomous vehicle

A photograph repository system includes data storage for storing photographs in the form of digital data files and a search feature that provides for searching for photographs by location and optionally by other search criteria. In one embodiment, a photograph repository service is accessible to users over a common data network, such as the Internet. In the photograph repository service, each stored photograph is associated with a location, i.e., where the photograph was taken and/or the location of an object in the photograph. Users can search for and obtain copies of their own photographs that they had stored previously with the photograph repository service. In addition, users can search for and obtain copies of photographs that had been taken by other users and stored with the photograph repository service. The photograph repository system can also be implemented as a standalone system, a hybrid system, or a peer-to-peer system.

Location-referenced photograph repository

A navigation system provides information about railroad crossing locations. A geographic database used by the navigation system includes data that indicate whether an at-grade railroad crossing is located along a road segment. Using this information, a route calculation function in the navigation system calculates a route to a destination that avoids road segments that have at-grade railroad crossings. In this way, the delays associated with waiting for a train to cross a road are avoided.

Method and system for route calculation that avoids railroad crossings

A method for providing visual continuity when performing a zooming or panning operation with a graphical map shown on display screen of a computing platform. When a user of the computing platform operates the user interface thereof to perform a zooming or panning operation, a first map view of a first geographic area is replaced with a second map view of a second geographic area, such that at least a portion of the first and second geographic areas overlap. In order to provide visual continuity, a transition view is shown on the display screen of the computing platform between the showing of the first map view and the showing of the second map view. The transition view is shown for several seconds immediately after the user operates the user interface to perform the zooming or panning operation. The transition view shows either the first map view or the second map view. The transition view also includes a boundary line that is overlaid on the map view being shown. The boundary line is located on the map view used for the transition view to show the border of the portion of the other map view which is visible in the map view used for the transition view. The method for providing visual continuity is particularly useful for in-vehicle navigation systems or hand-held devices with small display screens. The method can also be applied to text windows.

Method of providing visual continuity when panning and zooming with a map display

A navigation system includes a driving profile program. The driving profile program collects information about an end user's driving activity. The information relates to trips made by the end user. The information includes departure times, intermediate stops, arrival times, purposes of the trips, and so on. After collecting this information over a period of time, the driving profile program analyzes the end user's driving activity. The driving profile program provides the end user with a driving activity profile. In addition, the driving profile program determines ways to reduce the amount of time and/or expense that the end user spends traveling in his/her vehicle and suggests modifications to the end user's driving activity that would save the end user time or expense.

Growing community of inventors

Naperville, IL, United States of America

Frank J Kozak