Vehicles may be composed of a relatively few number of “modules” that are assembled together during a final assembly process. An example vehicle may include a body module, a first drive module coupled to a first end of the body module, and a second drive module coupled to a second end of the body module. One or both of the drive modules may include a pair of wheels, a battery, an electric drive motor, and/or a heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. One or both of the drive modules may also include a crash structure to absorb impacts. If a component of a drive module fails or is damaged, the drive module can be quickly and easily replaced with a new drive module, minimizing vehicle down time.

A steering control system for a vehicle that considers the limitations of at least one of the vehicle and the environment is contemplated. The steering control system can receive a vehicle characteristic, an environmental condition, a desired amount of turning, and a desired velocity of the vehicle. Based on some, or all of these parameters, the steering control system can determine at least one of a wheel torque, a wheel angle, a wheel camber, and a wheel suspension for a desired vehicle path to enhance vehicle performance.

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle adapted for autonomous driving, such as an autonomous vehicle, comprising an assisting object detecting system for detecting obstructing objects to the vehicle. The object detecting system is adapted to detect an object by comparing a reference value of a selected parameter with a measured value of the selected parameter. The present disclosure also relates to a method and a computer program product for use in the vehicle.

A monitoring system is disclosed for use with a rolling chassis of a vehicle. The monitoring system may include a tire sensor configured to generate a first signal indicative of a current tire condition of the rolling chassis, and a load sensor configured to generate a second signal indicative of an actual load placed on the rolling chassis. The monitoring system may also include a controller in communication with the tire sensor and the load sensor. The controller may be configured to determine based on the first signal a theoretical load that the rolling chassis is capable of supporting given the current tire condition. The controller may also be configured to make a first comparison of the actual load with the theoretical load, and to selectively generate a first alert based on the first comparison.

A method of reconstructing a detected faulty signal. A pitch sensor fault is detected by a processor. A signal of the detected faulty pitch sensor is reconstructed using indirect sensor data. The reconstructed signal is output to a controller to maintain stability.

Methods, apparatuses and computer program products for estimating absolute wheel roll radii and/or a vertical compression value of wheels of a vehicle are disclosed, wherein yaw rates of the vehicle, wheel speeds of first and second wheels, and optionally lateral acceleration of the vehicle are measured and used as a basis for the estimation.

The invention relates to a state control system and method for a vehicle with a battery to be swapped. The system includes: a central gateway, a vehicle state control module, and a vehicle state monitoring module that are communicatively connected, where after receiving a state-to-be-adjusted signal, the central gateway sends a control instruction to the vehicle state control module and/or the vehicle state monitoring module; the vehicle state control module and/or the vehicle state monitoring module adjust/adjusts, according to the control instruction, a state of the vehicle with a battery to be swapped; and the vehicle state monitoring module obtains an adjusted vehicle state of the vehicle with a battery to be swapped, and determines whether the vehicle state is a preset vehicle state required for a battery swap process of the vehicle with a battery to be swapped. In the invention, various control modules in the vehicle with a battery to be swapped are communicatively connected, to implement automatic adjustment of a state of the vehicle, so that the state of the vehicle with a battery to be swapped can be quickly and accurately adjusted to a state required for a battery swap process.

In examples, a fleet of vehicles comprises a hub vehicle and a set of remote vehicles, where a hub vehicle aggregates and disseminates information among remote vehicles. For example, the hub vehicle may specify a geofence and/or any of a variety of other vehicle configuration information, which may be provided to remote vehicles accordingly. Further, a remote vehicle may monitor a power source state and ensure that it does not travel outside of a range to the hub vehicle, thereby reducing instances where the remote vehicle has traveled too far to be replenished. The hub vehicle may also facilitate cross-vehicle communication between operators. For example, communications may be relayed among other vehicles of the fleet. In other examples, the hub vehicle may provide task management functionality, where a shared task list is synchronized among the vehicles, thereby enabling operators to view tasks, add tasks, and remove tasks, among other functionality.

A method of calculation a vehicle load comprising a first vehicle load value based at least on air pressures in air springs and height data of suspension of a vehicle axle, determining a second vehicle load value based on a change of track width of the vehicle axle, and calculating the vehicle load based on the first vehicle load value and the second vehicle load value.

Technologies and techniques for ascertaining a vehicle trajectory, via a system that includes a motor vehicle and a network server. Individual trajectories of a plurality of motor vehicles being traversed, and secondary information linked to the individual trajectories are detected. The individual trajectories of the plurality of motor vehicles, and the linked secondary information may be transmitted to a network server. A swarm trajectory may be ascertained by a network server as an average of the individual trajectories using the individual trajectories and the linked secondary information, wherein the average may be weighted using the secondary information. The network server may transmit the swarm trajectory to at least one motor vehicle. An associated motor vehicle configured for the system and network server is further disclosed.