Methods and systems are provided for controlling vehicle operating parameters depending on whether the vehicle is operating within an area defined by an adjustable geographical boundary, the adjustable geographical boundary defined based on wireless communication between vehicles and infrastructures. In one example, a method comprises determining that the vehicle has entered into an area defined by the adjustable boundary, and adjusting a control mapping of an acceleration control of the vehicle in response to the determining. In this way, fuel economy, emissions, and customer satisfaction may be improved.

Vehicles may be composed of a relatively few number of “modules” that are assembled together during a final assembly process. An example vehicle may include a body module, a first drive module coupled to a first end of the body module, and a second drive module coupled to a second end of the body module. One or both of the drive modules may include a pair of wheels, a battery, an electric drive motor, and/or a heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. One or both of the drive modules may also include a crash structure to absorb impacts. If a component of a drive module fails or is damaged, the drive module can be quickly and easily replaced with a new drive module, minimizing vehicle down time.

A vehicle control apparatus executes braking assist control to decelerate a vehicle by automatic operation of a braking device. When the vehicle control apparatus obtains a deceleration request from a driver during execution of the braking assist control, while a driver request deceleration requested to the braking device by the driver is constant or in an increasing trend, the vehicle control apparatus executes first arithmetic processing to suppress a system request deceleration requested to the braking device by the braking assist control from being decreased by the braking assist control.

A vehicle control apparatus executes braking assist control to decelerate a vehicle by automatic operation of a braking device. When the vehicle control apparatus obtains a deceleration request from a driver during execution of the braking assist control, while a driver request deceleration requested to the braking device by the driver is constant or in an increasing trend, the vehicle control apparatus executes first arithmetic processing to suppress a system request deceleration requested to the braking device by the braking assist control from being decreased by the braking assist control.

A vehicle control apparatus capable of executing control to cause a vehicle to automatically follow a preceding vehicle, includes a determination unit configured to determine, based on internal information of the vehicle, whether to request an increase of a cruising speed of the preceding vehicle during automatic following to the preceding vehicle, and a request transmission unit configured to transmit an increase request for requesting to increase the cruising speed of the preceding vehicle in a case in which the determination unit determines to request the increase of the cruising speed.

A measurement of the rotation speed of an object is made using a time-of-flight sensor configured to detect a passing of one or more of elements of the object through a given position. The time-of-flight sensor is further mounted on a one-person vehicle configured to protect the one-person vehicle against collisions through the making a time-of-flight measurement of a relative speed between the one-person vehicle and an obstacle.

A travel assisting method for a vehicle which is executed by a processor, comprising: generating a vehicle speed command value based on vehicle information of a subject vehicle; calculating the vehicle speed command value at a predetermined time (a look-ahead time) ahead of a current time based on information of a feature existing ahead of the subject vehicle in a travelling direction, as a look-ahead vehicle speed command value; and controlling the subject vehicle based on the look-ahead vehicle speed command value. Further, a lighting state of a traffic light located around the subject vehicle is detected, and the look-ahead time is set based on the lighting state.

A travel assisting method for a vehicle which is executed by a processor, comprising: generating a vehicle speed command value based on vehicle information of a subject vehicle; calculating the vehicle speed command value at a predetermined time (a look-ahead time) ahead of a current time based on information of a feature existing ahead of the subject vehicle in a travelling direction, as a look-ahead vehicle speed command value; and controlling the subject vehicle based on the look-ahead vehicle speed command value. Further, a lighting state of a traffic light located around the subject vehicle is detected, and the look-ahead time is set based on the lighting state.

A system assisting autonomous driving using a drone include: a drone obtaining peripheral information through at least one or more detectors; a vehicle performing autonomous driving by using the peripheral information; and a server lending the drone in response to a drone rental request of the vehicle and assisting the autonomous driving of the vehicle.

A vehicle assembly includes, among other things, a bumper assembly, a skid plate, and a capacitive sensor system of the skid plate. A sensing method for a vehicle includes using a capacitive sensing system to detect a proximity of a vehicle to an object. The capacitive sensing system is incorporated into a skid plate that is vertically beneath a portion of a bumper assembly of the vehicle.