A method of using a directional sensor for the purposes of detecting the presence of a vehicle or an object within a zone of interest on a roadway or in a parking space. The method comprises the following steps: transmitting a microwave transmit pulse of less than 5 feet; radiating the transmitted pulse by a directional antenna system; receiving received pulses by an adjustable receive window; integrating or combining signals from multiple received pulses; amplifying and filtering the integrated receive signal; digitizing the combined signal; comparing the digitized signal to at least one preset or dynamically computed threshold values to determine the presence or absence of an object in the field of view of the sensor; and providing at least one pulse generator with rise and fall times of less than 3 ns each and capable of generating pulses less than 10 ns in duration.

A truck parking safety system for alerting drivers to unsafe parking practices includes a speaker and a plurality of lights that are in operational communication with a microprocessor. The microprocessor is in operational communication with a sensor array that is configured to detect truck brake and trailer brake engagement as well as driver's door position. When the driver's side door is open and the parking brakes for either or both the truck and the trailer brakes are not engaged the microprocessor activates the speaker and the plurality of lights to create an audio-visual alarm. The microprocessor ceases the audio-visual alarm when the sensor array detects that the parking brake and the trailer brake are each engaged.

A parking assist system for a vehicle includes a rear backup camera and a control having an image processor that processes image data captured by the rear backup camera. The control, when the vehicle is driven forward into a parking slot and responsive to image processing of captured image data, determines a parking slot marker at a side boundary of the parking slot at which the vehicle is being parked. The system may include a display screen that displays images representative of the vehicle at a determined orientation relative to the determined parking slot marker so a driver of the vehicle can determine whether or not the vehicle is aligned in the parking slot. The control may determine a degree of misalignment of the vehicle relative to the parking slot and may generate an output to alert the driver that the vehicle is not aligned in the parking slot.

Method and apparatus are disclosed for accelerometer-based external sound monitoring during low speed maneuvers. An example vehicle includes accelerometers affixed to windows of the vehicle, speakers located inside the vehicle, and an infotainment head unit. Each of the speakers is uniquely associated with one of the accelerometers. The infotainment head unit, when a speed of the vehicle satisfies a threshold, selects a zone corresponding to a direction of travel of the vehicle. Additionally, the infotainment head unit plays signals captured by the accelerometers associated with the selected zone on the corresponding speakers.

A wheel orientation warning system and method to alert to a driver to turn front wheels toward a curb includes an electronic processor and a memory. The system includes a slope detector for detecting a slope of the vehicle and an arrangement for determining a presence of a curb adjacent a side of the vehicle. The system includes a transmission device for detecting when the vehicle is in a park mode. The electronic processor is configured to provide an alert to a driver to turn front wheels toward the curb when the vehicle is each of: disposed at a slope with an absolute value greater than a predetermined threshold, disposed adjacent the curb, and in the park mode. The system includes a dashboard display for providing messages and an indication to a driver when the wheels are turned toward the curb.

To detect front-parked vehicles at night (i.e. a vehicle is parked with its head facing the inside of a parking space), a detection device uses the light beam from a passing-by vehicle to extract at least a reflection of at least a tail light or at least a portion of a back bumper from an image captured for a parking space.

A vehicular vision system includes a sensor disposed at a vehicle and having a field of sensing exterior of the vehicle. The sensor captures sensor data. Electronic circuitry of an electronic control unit (ECU) includes a processor for processing sensor data captured by the sensor. Responsive to the vehicle being parked, captured sensor data is processed at the ECU to determine a topography of the environment at the parked vehicle. The ECU, responsive to determining the topography at the parked vehicle determines presence of a hazard of the topography. The ECU, responsive to determining presence of the hazard, notifies an occupant of the vehicle of the hazard prior to the occupant exiting the parked vehicle.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a storage device, for parking a vehicle in a camera's field of view. The method may include actions of determining that a vehicle is parked within a predetermined distance of a property, obtaining data from a monitoring system component, determining, based on the obtained data, that the vehicle is not parked within a field of view of a camera, determining that (i) the vehicle should be parked within a field of view of the camera and (ii) that an image captured by the camera should include a representation of the vehicle, and performing an operation to instigate movement of the vehicle to a different location that is (i) within a field of view of a camera and (ii) where an image captured by the camera includes a representation of the vehicle.

To detect front-parked vehicles at night (i.e. a vehicle is parked with its head facing the inside of a parking space), the present invention discloses a night-detection device. It comprises a moving-vehicle sensor and a parked-vehicle sensor. It uses the light beam from a passing-by vehicle to extract at least a reflection of at least a tail light or at least a portion of a back bumper.

A method for identifying a loading bay at a facility to which a vehicle is reversing, the method including determining, at a sensor apparatus connected with the vehicle, that the vehicle is reversing; capturing an image of the loading bay; and determining, from the image, the loading bay at the facility to which the vehicle is reversing.