The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
Jun. 23, 2020

Filed:

Jul. 31, 2017
Applicant:

Zoox, Inc., Menlo Park, CA (US);

Inventors:

Robert Chen, San Francisco, CA (US);

Matthew Austin Terrel, Campbell, CA (US);

Nivedita Chandrasekaran, Mountain View, CA (US);

Johannes Edren, Belmont, CA (US);

Joseph Funke, Redwood City, CA (US);

Assignee:

Zoox, Inc., Foster City, CA (US);

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
B60N 2/00 (2006.01); B60G 17/0165 (2006.01); B60G 17/019 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
B60G 17/0165 (2013.01); B60G 17/019 (2013.01); B60G 2400/0522 (2013.01); B60G 2400/62 (2013.01); B60G 2400/80 (2013.01); B60G 2400/96 (2013.01); B60G 2401/14 (2013.01); B60G 2401/21 (2013.01); B60G 2500/30 (2013.01); B60G 2800/014 (2013.01);
Abstract

A vehicle having a control system to utilize a movable suspension to increase sensor coverage. The control system can detect an object of interest that is partially, or completely, outside the field of view of one or more sensors on the vehicle. The system can then use the movable suspension to raise one portion of the vehicle and/or lower another portion of the vehicle to bring the object of interest at least partially into the field of view of the sensor, increasing the effective field of view of the sensor. When an object of interest is determined to be significant (e.g., a traffic or street sign), the system can attempt to bring the object of interest into view of the sensor by tilting the vehicle. The system can use different tilt rates and/or tilt angles depending on whether the vehicle is occupied or not.


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