A component for the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle includes a rigid supporting body, made of plastic material, an outer upholstery skin, made of plastic material, and a padding body made of foamed plastic material, which is set between the rigid body and the outer upholstery skin. The rigid body and the outer skin have portions formed by a polymeric material with carbon-based nanofillers, which have respective inner surfaces facing the padding body, which include one or more paths where said polymeric material with carbon-based nanofillers has been rendered electrically conductive by laser irradiation to define one or more electrical circuits, and one or more piezoresistive areas where the polymeric material has been rendered piezoresistive by laser irradiation to define one or more electrical switches, which can be activated by exerting a localized pressure on the outer upholstery skin.

An in-vehicle operating device is provided. The in-vehicle operating device includes a panel constituting a vehicle interior component and having an opening, an operation module provided to be movable in a backward-forward direction through the opening between a first position and a second position spaced apart from each other, with a button operated by a user being disposed on a front end thereof, an actuator including a plurality of shape-memory members contracting by applying current when heated and restored to an original state thereof when cooled, the plurality of shape-memory members including at least one first shape-memory member configured to move the operation module to the first position using a force generated during contraction and at least one second shape-memory member configured to move the operation module to the second position using a force generated during contraction, and a controller configured to supply current to the actuator while maintaining a voltage provided from a vehicle battery within a preset voltage range, and control an amount of current for each of the plurality of shape-memory members included in the actuator according to a condition for operating each of the plurality of shape-memory members.

Apparatus and method embodiments for reducing current-drainage from a battery of a vehicle, can include a network monitor configured to monitor a network state, a vehicle usage pattern learner configured to determine a usage pattern of the vehicle by time of each day of a week based on a monitoring result of the network monitor and determine cut-off load ranges for respective sections of the usage pattern to store in a memory, and a cut-off determiner configured to compare a time point at which the vehicle is turned off to a time range of each of the sections and accordingly determine at least one power load to cut off. In an embodiment, the vehicle usage pattern learner can be further configured to determine the sections based on a vehicle usage probability.

A vehicle and a method of controlling the vehicle are provided. The method of controlling the vehicle includes detecting, by an excitation voltage computational measuring device, an excitation voltage applied to an excitation coil of a relay provided to regulate power supply of a battery; calculating, by a logical determination device, a temperature of the relay based on the excitation voltage; and calculating, by the logical determination device, a remaining life of the relay based on the calculated temperature of the relay.

A switch device for a vehicle includes an emergency notification switch, an operation switch other than the emergency notification switch, and a cover that is movable between a closed position at which the emergency notification switch and the operation switch are covered and an open position at which the emergency notification switch and the operation switch are exposed. In the switch device, an operating surface of the emergency notification switch is located at a position lower than an operating surface of the operation switch, and the cover is provided with an opening through which the operating surface of the operation switch is exposed at the closed position.

A vehicle powertrain has a power inverter that includes a load switch with a main emitter and a current mirror emitter, a variable resistor coupled between the current mirror emitter and the main emitter, and a controller. The controller may be configured to adjust a gate voltage based on a voltage across the variable resistor, and responsive to the gate voltage exceeding a Miller plateau gate voltage, increase a variable resistor resistance such that feedback increases as the load switch saturates.

A powered running board assembly includes a running board and an actuator to displace the running board between a stowed position and a deployed position. That actuator includes a housing and a telescoping arm oriented along a first axis oblique to the running board. A related method of operating a running board is also disclosed.

A control panel for a vehicle includes a plurality of buttons disposed on the control panel, and at least one conductive rib disposed on the plurality of buttons. The control panel is made of a non-conductive material. The conductive rib is connected to an electrostatic protection circuit or a touch controller so that the electrostatic protection can be realized through the conductive rib or the conductive rib can serve as a touch button.

A switch actuating device (1) for a vehicle door includes an actuating element (10) with an actuating surface (11), a mechanical switch (20) and a mechanism (30). The switch is secured on a first component/component group (31). A lever (32) is mounted for pivot in relation to the first component/component group (31). A first region (32.2) of the lever is connected to a first part of the actuating element (10) via a first articulation (10.1).A second part of the actuating element (10) is mounted on the first component/component group (31) via a second articulation (10.2). The actuating element (10) bends when the actuating surface (11) is subjected to manual pressure causing the distance between the first articulation (10.1) and the second articulation (10.2) to shorten, which causes the lever (32) to pivot toward the switch such that the switch is switched.

A flow corridor detection system for use on a vehicle is provided. The system includes one or more sensors configured to measure available space in front of the vehicle; a data module include vehicle trajectory data that predicts trajectories of other vehicles, a memory defining vehicle dimension data, a dynamic memory having driver behavior and skill data, a processor configured to combine sensor measurements with data from the data module, memory and dynamic memory in order to detect a corridor through which the vehicle can proceed, and to quantify the risk level associated with the corridor. A display is configured to represent the location and risk level of the corridor to the driver of the vehicle.