An occupant support includes a seat and a seat cover. The seat is adapted to support an occupant resting thereon. The seat cover is couple to the seat and arranged to lie between the occupant and the seat.

A child safety seat and temperature warning system includes a child restraint including a seat and a backrest that is attached to and extends upwardly from the seat. A processor is mounted in the child restraint. A weight sensor is mounted within the seat and detects when a weight is positioned on the seat. A heat sensor is mounted in the child restraint and detects an ambient temperature adjacent to the child restraint. The weight sensor and the heat sensor are electrically coupled to the processor. A vehicle includes an alarm system that is in communication with the processor. The vehicle alarm system is turned on when the vehicle alarm system receives a warning signal. The warning signal is sent by the heat sensor to the processor when the weight sensor detects a weight and the heat sensor detects an unsuitable temperature which is greater than an upper threshold temperature.

A capacitive detection system for detecting occupancy of a vehicle seat includes a signal generating unit and a signal evaluation unit. The vehicle seat has a seat heater member configured for receiving time-varying output signals of the signal generating unit. The signal evaluation unit is configured to generate an output signal that is indicative of the seat heater member to be defective, if the sensed capacitance of the seat heater member is less than a second predetermined threshold value for the sensed capacitance.

Aspects of the disclosure relate to apparatus and methods for unattended occupant protection system (UOPS) safety systems for passenger vehicles. The UOPS safety system may include a UOPS module. The module may be integrated with a vehicle data bus of the passenger vehicle. The module may be in communication with a plurality of UOPS sensors. The module may launch an equalization mode in response to determining, via the UOPS sensors, the presence of an unattended occupant in the passenger vehicle with a high or rising ambient temperature. The equalization mode may stabilize the ambient temperature of the passenger vehicle.

The systems and methods described herein can be applied to a vehicle equipped with a sensor suite that can observe information about a location, for example, a traffic light duration. The system can record information, e.g., the traffic light colors, duration of color changes, and location of the traffic lights and can upload this information to the cloud. Then, the system can augment or learn about the location, e.g., learning of traffic patterns, and store the augmented data as database-based information, where available. The learned information can help a requesting vehicle to better estimate an estimated time of arrival (ETA) for common routes taken, provide more accurate ETAs based on historical knowledge, and/or calculate or provide alternative route information.

The present technology relates to a vehicle control apparatus and a vehicle control method that allow safer automated driving. The vehicle control apparatus includes a driver monitoring section and a penalty application section. The driver monitoring section detects a driving intervention level indicating an extent to which the driver intervenes in driving of a vehicle. The penalty application section applies a penalty disadvantageous to the driver in the case where the driving intervention level is insufficient. The present technology is applicable, for example, to a vehicle control apparatus that controls automated driving.

A system includes a vehicle having a vehicle network and a set of earpieces in operative communication with the vehicle network. The vehicle is configured to assign a plurality of access rights to the user of the set of earpieces based on both the identity of the user and the role of the user. A method for identifying a role of one or more users within a vehicle includes identifying one or more users within the vehicle, identifying the roles of one or more of the users within the vehicle using a set of wireless earpieces, and providing access rights to the one or more users within the vehicle in response to identification of one or more of the users within the vehicle.

A capacitive detection system for detecting occupancy of a vehicle seat includes a signal generating unit and a signal evaluation unit. The vehicle seat has a seat heater member configured for receiving pulse-width modulated electrical heater power of a pulse-width modulation frequency and time-varying output signals of the signal generating unit. The signal evaluation unit is configured to monitor a voltage difference between the electrical connection ends of the seat heater member, and is further configured to generate an output signal that is indicative of the seat heater member to be defective, on the basis of a fulfillment of at least one predetermined condition concerning the monitored voltage difference and a phase of the pulse-width modulated electrical heater power.

A vehicle seat occupancy detection system includes at least one capacitive sensor member having at least one sensing electrode, an impedance measurement circuit for determining a complex impedance or a complex admittance of the at least one sensing electrode, an evaluation unit for generating an output signal based on a determined complex admittance of the at least one sensing electrode and comparison of the determined complex admittance to at least one predetermined value, and at least one electrically conductive ground connecting member that is intentionally electrically connected to the reference electrode and that is arranged in close proximity to the at least one sensing electrode. The at least one ground connecting member and the at least one sensing electrode are galvanically separated such that, when the seat gets wet, the sensing electrode is directly electrically connected to the reference electrode by the at least one ground connecting member.

Improvements in an abandoned baby, infant, child or animal alter system is disclosed. When a child or animal is being transported with a driver in the vehicle, the driver will generally maintain a comfortable temperature in the interior of the vehicle. The temperature and temperature changes are monitored to determine that a child or animal is unattended. The monitor is coupled with a connection in the car, a seat belt of a baby seat or integrated into the baby seat. Integrating the sensor with a seat belt or buckle provides a switch for operation of the sensor. The signaling system can be integrated with the light, horn or alarm or can be connected to a cellular network, Wi-Fi or other radio communications system to send a notification that a baby, infant, child or animal has been left and secured in a vehicle and needs attention.