February 17, 2016
Google Files Patents For Unique Glasses, a Robot and a Driverless Car
A search of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s database shows some recently filed patents by Google. The search engine titan is obviously firing all cylinders in its research of robots/drones, driverless vehicles, and what looks to be either a Google Glass reboot or some sort of stylish frames for Virtual Reality headsets, perhaps.
[Related: Apple and Google Will Lead $600 Million Near-Future Car Market]
Several patents for eye wear that Google simply refers to as “glasses†in the patent abstracts, show more stylish frames than the Google Glass prototype released in 2013.
The patents are summarized as: “The ornamental design for a glasses frame, as shown and described,†and were filed in August 2015.
There is also a recent patent for driverless car technology. The patent is named “Driverless car: Methods and systems for steering-based oscillatory vehicle braking.”
A description of the patent is stated in the abstract:
Methods and systems for steering-based oscillatory braking are described herein. A method may involve making a determination, by a computing device, to reduce a speed of a vehicle. The vehicle may include a pair of wheels. The method may further involve providing instructions to turn the pair of wheels of the vehicle in an oscillatory manner, such that each wheel of the pair of wheels is turned in substantially the same direction and turning of the pair of wheels oscillates each wheel of the pair of wheels between given directions about a direction of travel of the vehicle so as to reduce the speed of the vehicle.
Skimming through the abstract are some specifics about the purposes of this patented technology:
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â making a determination, by a computing device, to reduce a speed of a vehicle, wherein the vehicle includes a pair of wheels
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â making a determination, by the computing device, that a primary braking system of the vehicle has failed
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â A system comprising: at least one processor; and a memory having stored thereon instructions that, upon execution by the at least one processor, cause the system to perform functions comprising: making a determination to reduce a speed of a vehicle, wherein the vehicle includes a pair of wheels.
Yet another recent patent deals with the movement of a robot across rough terrain. From the abstract:
Robotic devices may be used for many applications, and may operate in a variety of environments. Such robotic devices may need to operate in environments with a sloped ground, an environment with rocky terrain, or various other uneven landscapes. In such environments, the robotic device may need to know the slope of the ground to maintain balance and to progress forward. Such robotic devices may include systems to estimate a flat-plane approximation of the slope of the ground on which the robotic devices are walking in order to move across such terrains.