{
  "patent_number": "US 11932418",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Airport Vehicles Automatically Park Safely Next to Airplanes",
  "original_title": "Electronic system for controlling the docking of a vehicle with a docking area, and corresponding method",
  "summary": "A smart navigation system that helps airport service vehicles like catering trucks park safely at aircraft doors by identifying targets and avoiding restricted zones.",
  "what_it_does": "This system uses cameras and sensors to help ground vehicles automatically approach an aircraft door. First, it identifies specific visual markers (targets) on the plane to pinpoint exactly where the door is located. It then calculates a safe path for the vehicle, cross-referencing the type of aircraft with a database to ensure the vehicle avoids 'exclusion zones'—areas where it shouldn't go, such as sensitive sensors or wings. Finally, it forces the vehicle to align itself along a straight 'docking line' for the last two meters of the approach to ensure a gentle, perpendicular connection.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover manual docking where a human driver controls the steering.",
    "Does not cover systems that lack a database of exclusion zones for specific docking destinations.",
    "Does not cover docking paths that do not include a final straight-line approach of at least two meters.",
    "Does not cover generic vehicle navigation that ignores the specific geometry of the docking target."
  ],
  "filed": "2018-08-10",
  "granted": "2024-03-19",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "TLD EUROPE",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/tld-europe",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Charles BESSE",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/charles-besse"
    },
    {
      "name": "Laurent Decoux",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/laurent-decoux"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 0,
  "tags": [
    "automotive",
    "aerospace",
    "ai_ml"
  ],
  "abstract": "An electronic system and method controls automatic or semi-automatic docking of a vehicle with a given docking area, applicable, in particular, to the docking of an airport vehicle, such as a baggage belt loader, a catering vehicle, etc., to the fuselage of an aircraft, for example to the door of such an aircraft. The given docking area comprises at least one target. The system includes first determination device configured to determine the position of the docking area by determining the type of target from a set of given types and its position, second determination device configured to determine a guide path for guiding the vehicle towards the given docking area depending on the position of the docking area, and third determination device configured to determine the type of docking destination, the second determination device being capable of determining one or more exclusion areas depending on the type of docking destination, by comparing the type of docking destination with types of docking destination, stored in a database in association with exclusion areas, such that the guide path for guiding the vehicle towards the given docking area does not pass into any of the exclusion areas.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11932418/starship-propellant-transfer",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11932418/starship-propellant-transfer/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US11932418",
  "relatedPatents": []
}