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.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 16, 2026
Filed:
Jul. 19, 2022
Ford Global Technologies, Llc, Dearborn, MI (US);
John Russell Lepird, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Patrick Stirling Barone, Saratoga, CA (US);
Alexander Wah Tak Metz, Munich, DE;
Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US);
Abstract
This document discloses system, method, and computer program product embodiments for anticipating an imminent state of a school transportation vehicle. For example, the method includes receiving sensor data of an environment near an autonomous vehicle. The method further includes, in response to the sensor data including a representation of a school transportation vehicle, analyzing the sensor data to estimate, from a set of candidate states, a current state of the school transportation vehicle, wherein the candidate states include an actively loading or unloading state, an imminently loading or unloading state, and an inactive state. The method further includes, in response to the estimated current state being either the actively loading or unloading state or the imminently loading or unloading state, causing the autonomous vehicle to slow or stop until the school transportation vehicle is in the inactive state.