US 12,227,400 B2
Intelligent vehicle lift network with distributed sensors
Steven H. Taylor, Hanover, IN (US); Robert William Elliott, Madison, IN (US); and Gerry Lauderbaugh, Madison, IN (US)
Assigned to Vehicle Service Group, LLC, Madison, IN (US)
Appl. No. 17/289,388
Filed by Vehicle Service Group, LLC, Madison, IN (US)
PCT Filed Nov. 11, 2019, PCT No. PCT/US2019/060750
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 28, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/097605, PCT Pub. Date May 14, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/758,279, filed on Nov. 9, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0395057 A1, Dec. 23, 2021
Int. Cl. B66F 7/28 (2006.01); B66F 7/20 (2006.01); G06N 20/00 (2019.01); G06T 7/70 (2017.01); G06V 20/10 (2022.01); H04L 67/12 (2022.01)
CPC B66F 7/28 (2013.01) [B66F 7/20 (2013.01); G06N 20/00 (2019.01); G06T 7/70 (2017.01); G06V 20/10 (2022.01); H04L 67/12 (2013.01); G06T 2207/30252 (2013.01); G06V 2201/08 (2022.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A vehicle lift operable to lift a vehicle within a lift area, the vehicle lift comprising:
a lift post that is operable to raise and lower a lift arm assembly;
a set of lift arms, wherein each arm of the set of lift arms is attached to the lift post by a post connection at a proximal end of the lift arm, and the system is operable to automatically position a distal end of the lift arm;
a set of lift area detectors operable to determine physical characteristics of objects in the lift area, the set of lift area detectors comprising one or more cameras configured to capture one or more images of the vehicle; and
a lift controller configured to:
access an identification dataset that comprises data usable by artificial intelligence software to perform image analysis to identify objects within the one or more images of the vehicle;
control the position of the distal end of each lift arm in the set of lift arms;
using information from the set of lift area detectors, determine a virtualized position of the vehicle within the lift area;
using the set of lift area detectors, capture a set of one or more images of each lift point in a set of one or more lift points on the vehicle;
using artificial intelligence software, perform an image analysis on the set of one or more images of each lift point using the identification dataset to produce a set of results; and
automatically position the distal end of each lift arm of the set of lift arms at a different lift point of the set of lift points based on the virtualized position of the vehicle and the set of results;
wherein the lift controller is further configured to, when performing the image analysis:
capture a profile view image of the vehicle and perform a profile image analysis on the profile view image using the identification dataset to identify a lift point within the profile view image;
capture, after capturing the profile view image, a plan view image of the vehicle and perform a plan view image analysis on the plan view image using the identification dataset to identify a lift point within the plan view image;
determine whether the lift point within the profile view image is contained within a target envelope of one of the set of lift arms;
determine whether the lift point within the plan view image is contained within the target envelope; and
cause a lift monitor device to display the profile view image, the plan view image, the lift point, and the target envelope.