Patents
This portfolio spans 28 patents (4 granted, more pending) across autonomous vehicle systems, human-machine interaction, driver state monitoring, shared control, and cognitive modeling. The work clusters around several themes: personalizing driver interfaces using inferred cognitive states, enabling accessible in-vehicle interactions for visually impaired riders, shared-autonomy and coaching frameworks for skill acquisition, and computational models of human preference and decision-making.
2026
28. Gonzalez, N. A., Sumner, E. S., & Hakimi, S. System and method for human-in-the-loop simulated annealing. US Patent App. 18/913,880. Pending.
27. DeCastro, J. A., Sumner, E. S., Gopinath, D. E., Silva, A. M., Balch, T. M., Cui, X., et al. Systems and methods for training a learning model using labeled data generated with an assisting operator for a task. US Patent App. 18/905,603. Pending.
26. Sumner, E., Hakimi, S., Filipowicz, A., Carter, S., & Glazko, Y. Systems and methods for encouraging application exploration. US Patent 12,524,477. Granted.
25. Sumner, E. S., Rosman, G., Hu, X., DeCastro, J. A., Silva, A. M., Gopinath, D. E., et al. Building the trust of a vehicle occupant in an automated vehicle function. US Patent App. 18/929,848. Pending.
24. Cui, X., Sumner, E. S., DeCastro, J. A., Gopinath, D. E., Silva, A. M., et al. System and method for a driving scenario simulator. US Patent App. 18/933,913. Pending.
23. Silva, A. M., Sumner, E. S., DeCastro, J. A., Gopinath, D. E., Balch, T. M., Cui, X., et al. Systems and methods for assisting a driver using a foundation model in a shared-autonomy driving mode of a vehicle. US Patent App. 18/926,741. Pending.
22. Sumner, E. S., Gopinath, D. E., DeCastro, J. A., Silva, A. M., Balch, T. M., Cui, X., et al. Systems and methods for generating driving information to demonstrate a vehicle maneuver and guide an operator. US Patent App. 18/925,244. Pending.
21. Sumner, E. S., DeCastro, J. A., Rosman, G., Gopinath, D. E., Silva, A. M., Balch, T. M., et al. Systems and methods for predicting dissonance during shared control of a vehicle. US Patent App. 18/923,840. Pending.
20. Balch, T. M., Sumner, E. S., Rosman, G., DeCastro, J. A., Gopinath, D. E., Silva, A. M., et al. Systems and methods for enhancing instructions provided by a vehicular virtual assistant. US Patent App. 18/897,522. Pending.
2025
19. Sumner, E., Costa, J. M. dos R., Chen, T. L., & Best, A. P. Adaptive driver interface using driver cognitive factors. US Patent App. 18/423,039. Pending.
18. Rosman, G., DeCastro, J. A., Gopinath, D., Cui, X., & Sumner, E. Systems and methods for driver training using zone of proximal learning. US Patent App. 18/898,014. Pending.
17. Rosman, G., DeCastro, J. A., Gopinath, D., Sumner, E., Cui, X., Burgard, W., et al. Latent Skill Model-Based Teacher. US Patent App. 18/778,917. Pending.
16. Costa, J. M. dos R., Rosman, G., Gopinath, D. E., Sumner, E., Balch, T., et al. Shared decision-making with cognitive priors. US Patent App. 18/603,887. Pending.
15. Carter, S., Sumner, E., Van, M. P. T., & Chen, Y. Y. Systems and methods for simulating charger for electric vehicles. US Patent App. 18/239,357. Pending.
14. Chen, F., Sumner, E. S., Carter, S., Iliev, R., Gonzalez, N. A., & Filipowicz, A. L. S. Trip simulator for increased time-efficiency when charging. US Patent 12,209,872. Granted.
2024
13. Sumner, E., Arechiga, N., Weng, Y., Hakimi, S., & DeCastro, J. A. Methods and systems for expert-novice guidance. US Patent 12,169,697. Granted.
12. Costa, J. M. dos R., Chen, T. L., Sumner, E. S., & Morgan, A. M. Augmented reality interfaces for speed regulation through optical illusions. US Patent App. 18/182,987. Pending.
11. Rosman, G., Brooks, D. J., Stent, S. A. I., Chen, T., Sumner, E. S., Hakimi, S., et al. Systems and methods for learning and managing robot user interfaces. US Patent 12,084,080. Granted.
10. Stent, S., Best, A. P., Hakimi, S., Rosman, G., Sumner, E. S., & DeCastro, J. Adversarial simulation for developing and testing assistive driving technology. US Patent App. 18/156,591. Pending.
9. Paul, D. S., Sumner, E. S., & Dimitrov, V. Multisensory gestural-audio interface to promote situational awareness for improved autonomous vehicle control. US Patent App. 18/092,811. Pending.
2023
8. DeCastro, J., Rosman, G., Stent, S. A. I., Sumner, E., Hakimi, S., Gopinath, D. E., et al. System and method for training at least one policy using a framework for encoding human behaviors and preferences in a driving environment. US Patent App. 18/098,776. Pending.
7. Chen, Y. Y., Harinen, T., Shamma, D. A., & Sumner, E. S. System and method to detect and address overweight perceived by a subject in a salient situation. US Patent App. 17/581,731. Pending.
6. Chen, F. R., Gonzalez, N. A., Sumner, E. S., Iliev, R., & Carter, S. Use of elicited factors to inform intervention suggestions. US Patent App. 17/946,981. Pending.
5. Hakimi, S., Carter, S., DeCastro, J. A., Sumner, E. S., Weng, Y., & Arechiga, N. System and method for machine-assisted collaboration in product design. US Patent App. 17/550,496. Pending.
4. Weng, Y., Sumner, E., Hakimi, S., Arechiga, N., & DeCastro, J. A. Systems and methods for prototype generation. US Patent App. 17/507,187. Pending.
3. DeCastro, J. A., Hakimi, S., Sumner, E., Weng, Y., & Arechiga, N. Systems and methods for preference elicitation on car designs. US Patent App. 17/508,110. Pending.
2. Harinen, T. H., Iliev, R., Hakimi, S., Filipowicz, A. L. S., & Sumner, E. S. System and method for calculating generalized utilities and choice predictions. US Patent App. 17/825,648. Pending.
1. Sumner, E., Bravo, N. S., Filipowicz, A., Lyons, K., & Zhang, Y. Systems and methods for dynamic choice filtering. US Patent App. 17/409,188. Pending.
Last updated: 2026.