Systems, methods, and computer program products to enhance the situational competency and/or the safe operation of a vehicle, when operating at least partially in an autonomous mode, as a support vehicle for one or more on-road persons engaged in a training or competitive cycling, running, and/or walking activity on a predetermined travel route at a predetermined pace.

A platooning controller, a vehicle system including the same, and a method thereof are provided. The platooning controller includes a processor that identifies information about outside vehicles around a platooning line based on sensing information of platooning vehicles, determines whether views of the outside vehicles are obstructed by the platooning line based on the information about the outside vehicles, controls the platooning vehicles such that the views of the outside vehicles are obtained, and performs collision avoidance control and a storage storing the sensing information or a result of determination of whether a view is obstructed.

A platooning controller, a vehicle system including the same, and a method thereof are provided. The platooning controller includes a processor that identifies information about outside vehicles around a platooning line based on sensing information of platooning vehicles, determines whether views of the outside vehicles are obstructed by the platooning line based on the information about the outside vehicles, controls the platooning vehicles such that the views of the outside vehicles are obtained, and performs collision avoidance control and a storage storing the sensing information or a result of determination of whether a view is obstructed.

A method for acquiring the surrounding environment of a motor vehicle. The motor vehicle has at least one ultrasound sensor. The ultrasound sensor includes an ultrasound transducer for sending, the ultrasound sensor receiving acoustic environmental signals, in particular audible environmental signals, in that the ultrasound sensor is controlled in its evaluation in such a way that sound waves having frequencies below a resonant frequency of the ultrasound transducer, in particular audible sound waves, of an environmental signal are acquired and evaluated. Environmental signals are understood as acoustic signals that are not produced by the ultrasound transducer itself, but rather by an external sound source that in particular differs from the motor vehicle. This can be for example the siren of a rescue vehicle or emergency vehicle, or the horn of some other motor vehicle.

Presented are intelligent electronic footwear and apparel with controller-automated features, methods for making/operating such footwear and apparel, and control systems for executing automated features of such footwear and apparel. A method for operating an intelligent electronic shoe (IES) includes receiving, e.g., via a controller through a wireless communications device from a GPS satellite service, location data of a user. The controller also receives, e.g., from a backend server-class computer or other remote computing node, location data for a target object or site, such as a virtual shoe hidden at a virtual spot. The controller retrieves or predicts path plan data including a derived route for traversing from the user's location to the target's location within a geographic area. The controller then transmits command signals to a navigation alert system mounted to the IES's shoe structure to output visual, audio, and/or tactile cues that guide the user along the derived route.

A vehicle control device executes driving assistance control for assisting driving a host vehicle by a driver. The vehicle control device stops the driving assistance control under execution when a predetermined actuator of the host vehicle is operated. The vehicle control device executes, as the driving assistance control, abnormality countermeasure control for securing safe traveling of the host vehicle when the driver falls into an abnormal state having a problem in driving the host vehicle, and when the predetermined actuator is operated, and when the abnormality countermeasure control is not being executed, stops the driving assistance control, and when the abnormality countermeasure control is being executed, does not stop the driving assistance control including the abnormality countermeasure control.

A vehicle control device executes driving assistance control for assisting driving a host vehicle by a driver. The vehicle control device stops the driving assistance control under execution when a predetermined actuator of the host vehicle is operated. The vehicle control device executes, as the driving assistance control, abnormality countermeasure control for securing safe traveling of the host vehicle when the driver falls into an abnormal state having a problem in driving the host vehicle, and when the predetermined actuator is operated, and when the abnormality countermeasure control is not being executed, stops the driving assistance control, and when the abnormality countermeasure control is being executed, does not stop the driving assistance control including the abnormality countermeasure control.

A coupling device (16) for mounting an airbag module (14) to be oscillating on a steering wheel structure (12) of a vehicle steering wheel (10) includes a mounting member (18) which includes, relative to a steering wheel axis, an axial bottom side (20) which in the assembled state of the vehicle steering wheel (10) faces the steering wheel structure (12) as well as an opposite axial top side (22) which in the assembled state of the vehicle steering wheel (10) faces the airbag module (14), a contact face (24) for a damping element (26) provided on the axial bottom side (20) for oscillating coupling of the mounting member (18) to the steering wheel structure (12), and comprising a locking element (28) disposed on the top side (22) of the mounting member (18) for locking with the prefabricated airbag module (14), wherein the locking element (28) is configured so that the airbag module (14) can be coupled to the mounting member (18) by a locking connection substantially in an axially fixed manner or in an axially restrictedly movable manner.

Various implementations of a horn system include one or more force sensors disposed on a first portion of a driver air bag module and one or more actuators disposed on a second portion of the driver air bag module. For example, the force sensors may be disposed adjacent a perimeter of a base plate of the driver air bag module, and the actuators may extend inwardly toward the force sensors from an inner surface of a cover of the driver air bag module, or vice versa. To actuate the horn, the cover is moved axially toward the base plate, causing the actuators to apply force to the force sensors. Force signals received from the force sensors are used by one or more processors to determine characteristics of the force received and/or select a control message for communicating to the horn system based on the force signal characteristics.

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to using audible cues to guide a passenger to a vehicle having an autonomous driving mode. For instance, one or more processors of the vehicle may receive, from a server computing device, instructions to pick up the passenger at a pickup location. The one or more processors may maneuver the vehicle towards the pickup location in the autonomous driving mode. The one or more processors may receive a signal indicating that the passenger requests assistance locating the vehicle. The one or more processors may use the signal to generate the audible cues. The audible cues may be played by the one or more processors through a speaker of the vehicle in order to guide the passenger towards the vehicle.