US 12,441,187 B2
Vehicle spotter drone
Charles Sanderson, Newport Beach, CA (US); Vivek Vaid, Mountain View, CA (US); and Quentin Spottiswoode, Horsham (GB)
Assigned to Rivian IP Holdings, LLC, Plymouth, MI (US)
Filed by Rivian IP Holdings, LLC, Plymouth, MI (US)
Filed on Nov. 18, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/990,439.
Prior Publication US 2024/0166047 A1, May 23, 2024
Int. Cl. B60K 35/28 (2024.01); B64U 20/87 (2023.01); B60K 35/22 (2024.01); B64U 101/30 (2023.01)
CPC B60K 35/28 (2024.01) [B64U 20/87 (2023.01); B60K 35/22 (2024.01); B60K 2360/176 (2024.01); B64U 2101/30 (2023.01); B64U 2201/10 (2023.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A visual guidance system, comprising:
a drone comprising a sensor, the drone configured to autonomously position the sensor outside a vehicle with a line of sight to a current path of the vehicle to collect path data by:
determining a field of view of a vehicle operator;
determining a view angle of a contact patch position of one or more tires of the vehicle;
determining an overlap region of the field of view and the view angle; and
autonomously positioning the drone in the overlap region; and
a controller in communication with the sensor and configured to provide visual guidance to the vehicle operator based on the path data.