US 11,027,648 B2Granted

Dynamic sound emission for vehicles

AssigneeZoox, Inc.

InventorsJacob Avi Harper, Kevin Mark Karol, Michael Moshe Kohen, Forrest Leighton Merrill, Subasingha Shaminda Subasingha, Jeremy Yi-Xiong Yang

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Abstract

A vehicle computing system may implement techniques to dynamically adjust a volume and/or frequency of a sound emitted from a vehicle to warn an object (e.g., dynamic object) of a potential conflict with the vehicle. The techniques may include determining a baseline noise level and/or frequencies proximate to the object. The baseline noise level and/or frequencies may be determined based on an identification of one or more noise generating objects in the environment. The vehicle computing system may determine the volume and/or a frequency of the sound based in part on the baseline noise level and/or frequencies, an urgency of the warning, a probability of conflict between the vehicle and the object, a speed of the object, etc.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A system comprising:

a sensor coupled to a vehicle;
a speaker coupled to the vehicle;
one or more processors;
and
one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed, configure the system to:
identify, based on sensor data from the sensor, a first object at a first location in an environment associated with the vehicle, wherein the first location is at a first distance from the vehicle;
identify, based on the sensor data, a second object at a second location in the environment, wherein the second location is a second distance from the first location associated with the first object;
determine that the second object is generating a noise event at a first volume based at least in part on a third distance between the vehicle and the second object;
determine that second distance is equal to or less than a threshold distance;
determine, based at least in part on a determination that the second distance is equal to or less than the threshold distance, a noise level proximate to the first location associated with the first object, wherein the noise level is determined based at least in part on the first volume and the second distance;
determine, based at least in part on the noise level, at least one of a second volume or a frequency of a sound to emit;
and
emit, via the speaker, the sound at the at least one of the second volume or the frequency.

10 more elements

One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed, cause a vehicle to perform operations comprising:

identifying, based on sensor data from a sensor coupled to the vehicle, an object at a first location in an environment associated with the vehicle, wherein the first location is a first distance from the vehicle;
identify, based on the sensor data, a noise generating object at a second location in the environment;
determine a volume of a noise emitted by the noise generating object based at least in part on a second distance between the second location and the vehicle;
determining a noise level proximate to the first location associated with the object based at least in part on a third distance between the first location and the second location and the volume of the noise emitted by the noise generating object;
determining, based at least in part on the noise level proximate to the first location associated with the object, at least one of a second volume or a frequency of a sound to emit;
and
causing the sound to be emitted via a speaker coupled to the vehicle at the at least one of the volume or the frequency.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 16/193,945Filed 16 Nov 2018
Published: US 2020/0156538 A121 May 2020
Granted: 8 Jun 2021
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification9 codes

B60Q 5/006
Automatically actuated: indicating risk of collision between vehicles or with pedestrians
B60W 30/08
Purposes of road vehicle drive control systems not related to the control of a particular sub-unit, e.g. of systems using conjoint control of…:…
G10K 9/12
Devices in which sound is produced by vibrating a diaphragm or analogous element, e.g. fog horns, vehicle hooters or buzzers: electrically operated
G10K 11/34
Sound-focusing or directing, e.g. scanning: using electrical steering of transducer arrays, e.g. beam steering

Family

US 2020/0156538 A1Pre-grant publication · published 21 May 2020
US 11,027,648 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

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