When an automobile's risk alerting forward looking radar senses a risk, or the GPS circuit with map indicates that a zone of high risk (such as certain intersections) is being entered, this system instructs the phone to play an alert sound into any on-going telephone conversation or suspend the call so that both parties know the driver needs to pay attention.

System, methods, and other embodiments described herein relate to vigilance evaluator. In one embodiment, a method includes receiving a vertical force measurement based on a force sensor attached to a steering column; and estimating a level of operator vigilance based on the vertical force measurement.

A device in an automobile includes a camera that takes images of drivers while they are driving. It detects and reports identity of the driver with automated image processing. It also reports how much the car is driven, by whom, when, where, carrying what load, at what speed compared to the speed limit, with what pattern of hard breaking or hard cornering, whether the driver looked into the blind spot before changing lanes, and whether the driver allowed their phone to enter a restricted state while driving. The device may be built in or retrofit. The retrofit device can detect if it is depowered or removed from the vehicle and report this to the insurance company, rental company, parents, and employers.

A vehicle having a drivetrain is controlled based on a difference between a torque transmitted by the drivetrain when the vehicle has constant non-zero speed and the torque transmitted by the drivetrain when the vehicle is accelerating. The drivetrain torque may be measured by a drivetrain torque sensor. The effective vehicle mass is computed from the torque difference. The computed mass of the vehicle is used to adjust the activation of a collision warning system or a collision avoidance system. A method of operating a vehicle where the activation of a collision avoidance system is adjusted based on a difference between a torque transmitted by a drivetrain when the vehicle has constant non-zero speed and the torque transmitted by the drivetrain when the vehicle is accelerating is disclosed. The torque difference is used to compute a vehicle mass that is used to adjust a collision warning distance.

The present disclosure relates to technology for controlling a driving speed of a utility vehicle. According to one embodiment, a device includes: a speed sensor that detects the driving speed of the utility vehicle; a wind speed sensor or a data interface that detects a wind speed on or in front of the utility vehicle; a locating unit that locates the utility vehicle on a route travelled by the utility vehicle; and a control unit that controls the driving speed of the utility vehicle according to the detected driving speed, the detected wind speed and a topography ahead of the utility vehicle on the route according to the location. With the topography ahead of the utility vehicle, the controlled driving speed is an increasing function of the detected wind speed in the direction of the driving speed.

A base plate system includes at least one base plate configured to support at least one accessory and at least one sensor that is configured to determine at least one characteristic of the at least one accessory and/or the at least one base plate. A controller uses the at least one characteristic to estimate a stress and/or strain caused by the at least one accessory on the at least one base plate and predicts how the stress and/or strain could change depending on position of the at least one accessory and/or orientation of the at least one base plate within a vehicle.

Forces in a vehicle interface between the suspension and a body are identified. Rather than using many or all strain gauges, some more easily and rapidly installed acceleration sensors are instead used to measure local deformation. To remove or reduce the effects of rigid-body motion captured by accelerometers, an inertial measurement unit is also used. The forces are estimated from a behavior model accounting for both rigid and flexible motions.

A method and system of detecting an impending tip over of a vehicle with the following steps and apparatus. Acquiring first measurement data, the first measurement data having strain data and at least one of attitude data and acceleration data. Acquiring second measurement data, the second measurement data having strain data and at least one of attitude data and acceleration data. Determining, based on the first measurement data and based on the second measurement data, if the second measurement data is indicative of an impending tip over of the vehicle. Only if it is determined that the second measurement data is indicative of an impending tip over of the vehicle, triggering an alarm signal, overriding a control command or overwriting a control command.

A method of protecting a multi-function drive axle system from damage, comprising the steps of: determining the axle torque and speed from sensors positioned on the multi-function drive axle system; using the axle torque and speed to approximate damage values for the driveline of the multi-function drive axle system; comparing the approximated values of driveline damage with driveline damage durability targets; identifying if the approximated values of driveline damage exceed the driveline damage durability targets; and limiting the engine torque and/or speed to produce an axle torque and speed corresponding to driveline damage values that do not exceed the driveline damage durability targets.

A combined anti-slip floor mat, including a mat body and a little mat, the mat body includes a leather, a PU self-skinning layer, and an anti-slip layer stacked together m that order. A recess is disposed in the middle of the top of the mat body, and the area of the recess is slightly less than the top area of the mat body; the little mat is matched to the recess in size. At least one opening is disposed on the middle of each side of the recess; wherein the opening passes through the floor mat; a cross notch is made on the bottom of the floor mat, by connecting each two opponent openings; the size of the little mat matches the recess on the mat body, and is separably embedded in the recess.