Oh, patents! BlaBlaCar™

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Do you blah, blah blah or blah blah blah? In other words, “How talkative are you when you commute with other folks? This intriguing user profile question gave the now famous ridesharing company, formerly called Comuto S.A, its trademarked name.  

BlaBlaCar™ is a long distance ridesharing company, founded in 2004, after one of its founders could not get home for xmas, considering that he could not get train tickets and did not own a car.  BlaBlaCar™ now operates in 22 European countries, connecting 18 million travelers every quarter, who are “going the same way” for an average 150 miles. The long-distance travel network, not only has 60 million subscribers, it has deliberately developed digital trust tools, using ratings, reviews, and verified user-profiles, to bring people together, who otherwise would never have met. 

The BaBlaCar™ mobile platform, supporting long-distance ridesharing, also seeks to offer more cost-efficient and enjoyable road travel, with less traffic and thus a decreased carbon footprint. The included small data chart shows the BlaBlaCar™ carbon footprint and its contribution to decreasing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.

The BlaBlaCar™ mobile ride-sharing platform and system are recited in two recent US patent applications:

• US2018023967 (A1) - 2018-01-25 - Method and system for identifying meeting points
• US2018172459 (A1) - 2018-06-21 - Method and system for determining detoured trips. 

The first patent application, US2018023967, recites the system and method for generating acceptable pick-up points on a given route. For example, a pick-up point at the local train station, or at a particular neighborhood school, computed to minimize the detours on any given route with several stops, that are acceptable to the driver and workable for potential passengers. The abstract is included below: 

A method of and a system for processing a ridesharing request. The method comprising receiving instructions to create a trip in the ridesharing platform; generating an original route by causing to compute an original polyline defining the original route; accessing a set of meeting points; determining from the set of meeting points, candidate meeting points which are within a distance from the original polyline; generating for each one of the candidate meeting points, a detour route by causing to compute a detour polyline defining the detour route; identifying selected candidate meeting points from the candidate meeting points; and storing the selected candidate meeting points, the selected can didate meeting points being associated with the trip.

[Abstract US2018023967] 

The second patent application, US2018172459, recites the system and method for increasing matches between the trips that drivers publish and offer, and the trips that passengers are seeking. The invention consists in the method and system of computing detours that are acceptable to the drivers, in some instances based on the rideshare requests. The abstract of the patent is included below.

A system for and a method of determining that a detoured trip is to be presented to a potential passenger. The method comprises receiving a rideshare request; generating a rideshare request parameter; and accessing, from a database, trip filtering parameters associated with trips. The method further comprises determining that at least one of the trips is a candidate for which a detour route is to be computed based on an analysis of the rideshare request parameter and a corresponding trip filtering parameter associated with the at least one of the trips; causing to compute, for the at least one of the trips determined as being the candidate for which the detour route is to be computed, a detoured trip; and determining that the detoured trip is to be presented to the potential passenger by analyzing the deviation value of the detoured trip and the deviation threshold. [Abstract US2018172459]

References

Blablacar™

https://www.blablacar.com/

Shaheen, S. (March 23, 2017) BlaBlaCar™ and the rise of carpooling in France. Move Forward. Moovel Group.

https://www.move-forward.com/blablacar-and-the-rise-of-carpooling-in-france/

Shaheen, S., Stocker A and M. Mundler  (July 2016) Online and app-based carpooling in France: Analyzing users and practices – A study of BlaBlaCar™.  BlaBlaCar™ White paper
http://innovativemobility.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/BlaBlaCar_Whitepaper_FINAL.pdf

Oh, patents! Qista

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Got bugs?

Qista, produced and manufactured by the French company Techno BAM, has an innovative solution that is lethal for mosquitos, while remaining safe for both humans and the environment. The Qista mosquito stations simulate human breathing with carbon dioxide while releasing some irresistible scents, designed to lure insects into thinking they are going to sting humans. The mosquitos, and especially females, are thus drawn into the stations, where they are trapped inside a net.

The Qista invention was informed by research carried out on mosquito control at the Tour du Valat Research Insitute, focused on the Conservation of Mediterranean Wetlands.  It was motivated by a desire to find an alternative to chemical solutions, such as:

1. Use of the Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) larvacide, for which evidence of collateral environmental impact exists (Poulin, et. al., 2006);

2. Insecticidal solutions, the side-effects of which are extensively documented (e.g.; Aktar, et al., 2009), including the risks of resistance; and 

3. Repellant solutions (e.g.; DEET - N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide), which merely divert the mosquito populations, without suppressing them.  

The Qista mosquito stations have a range of 200 feet outdoors, which makes them far more effective than designs of the prior art. They are lethal for nematocerous dipterans (biting insects) and hematophagous dipterans (bloodsucking insects). They are also cost-effective, and recommended for both outdoor residential and commercial areas (e.g.; gardens and parks).  

This invention is recited in the following family of patents:

• US20170231210A1 - Device and method for trapping flying insect pests.
• WO2016020627 - Appareil et procédé pour prendre au piège des insectes volants nuisibles
• MX2017001715 - Aparato y proceso para atrapar insectos voladores dañinos
• EP3177138 - Device and method for trapping flying insect pests 
• FR3024643 - Appareil et procédé pour prendre au piège des insectes volants nuisibles
• CA2957356 - Device and method for trapping flying insect pests 

The abstract for US20170231210 is included below, together with one of the patent drawings, showing the device according to the invention.

An apparatus for trapping flying insect pests, including: a device for diffusing in the surrounding ambient air a gaseous lure the composition of which is suitable for attracting the insects; a device for sucking a flow of surrounding ambient air containing the insects attracted by the diffused gaseous lure, an insect trap arranged with the suction device so the insects sucked by said device are retained in said trap        .[Abstract US20170231210]

References

Aktar, W. MD, Sengpupta, D & A. Chowdhry (2009) Impact of pesticides use in agriculture: their benefits and hazards. In Interdiscip Toxicol. 2009 Mar; 2(1): 1–12. Published online 2009 Mar. doi:  10.2478/v10102-009-0001-7

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2984095/ 

Poulin, B., Lefebve, G & L. Paz (2006) Red flag for green spray: adverse trophic effects of Bti on breeding birds. In The Journal of Applied Ecology, DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2010.01821.x

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2010.01821.x/full

Qista

https://qista.eu/fr/

Tour du Valat

https://tourduvalat.org/

US Dept. Of Health – Mosquito Larvicide - Bti
https://www.doh.wa.gov/CommunityandEnvironment/Pests/Mosquitoes/Bti

Oh, patents! SMAPPEE

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Most people manage their cash flow, SMAPPEE is a system that manages the energy flow at your residence. Using a proprietary algorithm and dedicated hardware, the various SMAPPEE monitoring systems measure/monitor in real time all the energy consumed and produced at your residence, assuming that, for example, you are using solar panels.  

The measurement/monitoring technology combines patented load disaggregation and submetering of the main power line. The patented load disaggregation technology is called NILM – Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring. NILM technology enables to record the total energy signal of a building and then to detect and extract each of the appliances’ separate signals. This is because each appliance uses energy in a different way, which leaves a unique signature that can be detected by the patented technology. So, for example, a 1500 watt microwave and a 1500 watt coffeemaker, working at the same time, will both use energy differently, and in such a way that SMAPPEE can detect them both as Appliance 1 and Appliance 2. The user then designates Appliance 1 and 2, as Microwave and Coffeemaker, after turning them on and off to coach the system into detecting them separately, in a robust manner.

Amazingly, SMAPPEE applies to all the electronic and electrical appliances of your residence, including such items as the water heater, HVAC, an electric car, fridge, dishwasher, clothes washer, dryer, cooktop, computer, printer, chargers, lamps, even hair dryers, which normally might all work at one time or another, variously turning on and off. Only very low consumption appliances, such as LED lights or, twin appliances, such as two lamps, might go undifferentiated and/or undetected, without user coaching  

The energy consumption information that is thus monitored/measured and extracted, each time an appliance is turned on or off, is sent as data packets to a remote server which you can then access with your mobile device and My SMAPEE app, in view of obtaining real-time feedback, and/ or to query the data for information on exactly how much energy each of your appliances use, or cost, per week, per day, per season etc.

The most recent, CES 2018 Innovation Award-winning SMAPPEE Plus version of this residential energy management system, even allows users to control and re-assign the flow of energy at their residence. For example, you could assign more solar energy to your cooktop if you are recharging your electric vehicle, at the same time. The latest SMAPPEE Plus version also enables users to use SolarCoin cryptocurrency. The long-term goal of the SMAPPEE company is to create off the grid, decentralized, energy hubs that can buy, sell and produce renewable energy. 

The SMAPPEE load disaggregation technology is disclosed in the WIPO patent application WO2015154824A1. The abstract of the patent application is included below, together with a mobile app screenshot, showing the extracted energy monitored data, during a day, for a washing machine. 

The present invention is directed to an energy management system comprising a in situ processing unit (I) comprising: a measuring unit (2,3,5) capable of measuring a set of power related parameters over a main electricity cable; a fIrst processing unit (6) capable of processing said power related parameters by applying a signature detection algorithm, for detecting an event relating to turning ON or OFF of an electronic and/or electric appliance and for characterizing said event; means for transferring to a server a data packet comprising an output of said signature detection algorithm; characterized in that, the processing unit triggers the transfer of a data packet only in case such an event is detected. The present invention is further directed to a method for monitoring the use of electronic and/or electric appliances comprising the following steps: measuring/monitoring power related parameters over a main electricity cable, said measuring/monitoring being performed by a measuring unit (2,3,5) part of an energy management systern according to the present invention, processing said power related parameters on said fIrst processing unit (6), by applying a signature detection algorithm for detecting whether an event relating to turning ON or OFF an electronic and/or electric appliance occurred and for characterizing said event, initiating a data transfer to a server (4), transferring to a server (4) a data packet comprising an output of said signature detection algorithm, characterized in that said method further comprises triggering the transfer of a data packet only in case such an event is detected.

PS --This is green management technology, hailing from Belgium!

Reference

SMAPPEE website

www.smapee.com