An air conditioning system for motor vehicles designed to blow an air toward a glass window at the time of entry into a defrosting mode. The air conditioning system includes a rear seat controller configured to independently control a temperature and a volume of an air blown toward a rear seat region of a vehicle room, and a control unit configured to, at the time of entry into the defrosting mode, stop cooling or heating of the rear seat region and cause the rear seat controller to display a specific symbol indicating that the cooling or heating of the rear seat region is stopped due to the entry into the defrosting mode.

Approaches, techniques, and mechanisms are disclosed for sensor cleaning systems. A region of a sensor window is identified to be blocked by an obscurant. The location of the region is determined using the sensor associated with the sensor window. An acousto-vibratory cleaning system receives the location of the region and produces a fluid droplet to be dispensed at a specified point on a two-dimensional plane of the surface of the sensor window. Sonic actuators are activated to capture the fluid droplet in acoustic levitation. Acoustic forces guide the fluid droplet to the region being obscured. Once the fluid droplet is in cleaning position, vibration of the sensor window is activated to incrementally clear the obscurant by vibrating the droplet along the obscurant. The acousto-vibratory cleaning system generates additional acoustic forces to guide the contaminated fluid droplet to a closest drainage canal.

A vehicle air-conditioning device is a heat pump type vehicle air-conditioning device including an external heat exchanger that performs heat exchange between refrigerant flowing the inside thereof and outside air. With the vehicle air-conditioning device, a controller functions as a temperature-difference calculation unit that calculates the temperature difference ΔT between the refrigerant in a refrigerant flow path on the exit side of the external heat exchanger and the outside air, and in addition, the controller functions as a frost formation determination unit that determines that frost formation is caused on the external heat exchanger on the basis of the elapsed time to of a state in which the temperature difference ΔT is equal to or larger than a frost-formation temperature difference at which the frost formation may be caused on the external heat exchanger.

A method whereby a mobile fuel station may refuel vehicles is disclosed. Fuel reservoirs are provided in a mobile fuel station that may store fuel and dispense fuel through a hybrid fuel line. Fuel nozzles are provided which can be detachably connected to the hybrid fuel line and can measure and display fuel dispensed from the mobile fuel station. Communication devices and a network are provided that allow a vehicle and a mobile fuel station to communicate location and status information wirelessly with the network. The network uses vehicle location data to create an optimized fueling path and predict vehicle refueling locations. A prepay deposit account or other automatic payment services that allow refueling and maintenance services to be provided at a user's convenience are also disclosed and claimed herein.

A control device for a vehicle heater includes: a camera; a heater configured to heat a portion of the window glass located in front of the camera; a temperature sensor configured to acquire a camera temperature; an illuminance acquisition unit configured to acquire an illuminance outside the vehicle; and a control unit configured to determine that a control prohibition condition to prohibit execution of the heater energization control is satisfied when the camera temperature is equal to or larger than a prohibition threshold temperature, execute the heater energization control when execution of the heater energization control is requested, prevent execution of the heater energization control when the control prohibition condition is satisfied, and when the illuminance is lower than a threshold illuminance, set the prohibition threshold temperature to be lower than when the illuminance is equal to or larger than the threshold illuminance.

An apparatus comprising a camera sensor and a processor. The camera sensor may be configured to generate a video signal based on a targeted view in a vehicle. The processor may be configured to receive one or more status signals from one or more sensors. The processor may be configured to detect a type of obstruction of a window of the vehicle visible in the video signal based on (i) a classification of information in the video signal and (ii) one or more of the status signals.

A pattern electrode structure for an electrowetting apparatus, which is laminated between a base material and a dielectric layer of the electrowetting apparatus, includes a first electrode portion including a first electrode connection portion, a first basal pattern electrode connected to the first electrode connection portion, and a plurality of first upper branch electrodes connected to the first basal pattern electrode, and a second electrode portion including a second electrode connection portion, a second basal pattern electrode connected to the second electrode connection portion, and a plurality of second upper branch electrodes connected to the second basal pattern electrode, the second electrode portion having a different polarity from the first electrode portion, in which the second basal pattern electrode extends and traverses in a width direction of a plane of the pattern electrode structure.

A windshield heating device includes: a heating wire that heats a first part of a windshield of a vehicle, the first part being located in front of a camera; a glass heating apparatus that heats a second part of the windshield, the second part including the first part; and a control unit that controls energization to the heating wire and the glass heating apparatus. The control unit is configured: to determine whether energization to the glass heating apparatus is performed when heating of the first part is requested; to control so that energization to the heating wire is performed when it is determined that the energization to glass heating apparatus is not performed; and to control energization to the heating wire so that an amount of energization to the heating wire is reduced when it is determined that energization to the glass heating apparatus is performed.

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are provided for receiving first data from a first sensor utilizing a first communication protocol, wherein the first sensor is positioned in an aggregation zone, receiving second data from a second sensor utilizing a second communication protocol, wherein the second sensor is positioned in the aggregation zone, processing the first data received from the first sensor and the second data received from the second sensor to conform the first communication protocol and the second communication protocol, and providing instructions based on the processed first data and the processed second data in a third communication protocol, wherein the instructions adjust auxiliary functions of an autonomous vehicle.

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are provided for receiving first data from a first sensor utilizing a first communication protocol, wherein the first sensor is positioned in an aggregation zone, receiving second data from a second sensor utilizing a second communication protocol, wherein the second sensor is positioned in the aggregation zone, processing the first data received from the first sensor and the second data received from the second sensor to conform the first communication protocol and the second communication protocol, and providing instructions based on the processed first data and the processed second data in a third communication protocol, wherein the instructions adjust auxiliary functions of an autonomous vehicle.