In a method for controlling engine power during charge depleting (CD) mode heating of a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), the engine power is controlled according to an amount of heat of an engine required for heating determined using a level of an air-conditioning blower at a point in time at which an operation of the engine starts, an outdoor air temperature, and a coolant temperature, if a full automatic temperature controller (FATC) operates the engine for heating when the vehicle is driven in a CD mode.

A cruise control interlock system detects a current set of conditions for a vehicle, compares the current conditions with cruise control interlock conditions (e.g., an adjustable threshold state of a windshield wiper system), and executes a process to deactivate the cruise control system. The process to deactivate functionality of the cruise control system may include presenting a notification to the operator to alert the operator to an upcoming automatic deactivation or to encourage the operator to deactivate cruise control. The process also may include a vehicle de-rate process (e.g., reducing vehicle speed) to induce the operator to deactivate cruise control. Deactivation of cruise control may be postponed in some situations, such as when the vehicle is ascending an uphill grade or where doing so may deactivate an active downhill speed control function.

A vehicle control apparatus includes a controller that switches a vehicle between an HEV traveling mode and an EV traveling mode. When the output current of a DC-to-DC converter becomes equal to or higher than a threshold, the controller decreases the output current by decreasing the output voltage of the DC-to-DC converter through output regulation control. The controller makes switching between a normal setting in which the threshold for the output regulation control is set to a reference threshold and a boost setting in which the threshold is set to a boost threshold higher than the reference threshold. The controller prohibits the boost setting when a power margin for boosting becomes equal to or lower than a first power margin value in the HEV traveling mode and when the power margin for the boosting becomes equal to or lower than a second power margin value in the EV traveling mode.

A peripheral vehicle is detected from an image captured by a camera, and the tire grounded portion of the peripheral vehicle is specified. Whether the color of a peripheral region of the specified tire grounded portion is white is determined. If the color is white, it is determined that the road condition of a traffic lane where the peripheral vehicle is traveling is snow.

A health monitoring system including an array of microphones, a data collection system, and analytic software used to detect health status, pending malfunctions, or faults of several disparate, engine subsystems. The system can be used to monitor health of the main engines, the engine nacelles, and auxiliary power units (APU) on the aircraft.

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 system and method of this disclosure control an on/off state of a power take-off by monitoring the power demand of a fluid power circuit that includes the power take-off and a piece of equipment connected to the power take-off. The power demand may be indicated by a pressure or temperature of a fluid power circuit, by a motion of the equipment or its hand-held controller, or by an engine torque of an engine driving the power take-off. When the equipment transitions between an off state and an on state, the controller automatically engages the power take-off. When the equipment is in the on-state for a predetermined amount of time and the power demand is at or below a predetermined threshold during the predetermined amount of timethereby indicating idle time or an inactive state of the equipmentthe controller automatically disengages the power take-off.

A backend for a hazard detection system comprising: a processor; and a memory in communication with the processor, the memory storing a set of instructions. The set of instructions, when accessed and executed by the processor, cause the processor to: receive vehicle and/or driver data from a vehicle, evaluate the received vehicle and/or driver data, use the evaluation as a basis for detecting a hazard in road traffic, and send the information about the detected hazard to at least one vehicle to warn said vehicle about the hazard.

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.

An in-vehicle life detection system and detection method thereof are provided. The system includes a control unit, an electromagnetic wave detection module, and a warning module. The method includes following steps: vehicle condition identifying step, life form detecting step, and warning step. Upon receiving an engine off signal and a driver absence signal, the control unit emits a detection activation signal, activating the electromagnetic wave detection module to emit an electromagnetic wave for detecting a life form. When the life form is detected, the warning module sends a warning signal, indicating that the life form is left in the vehicle when the vehicle is in the engine off status with the doors closed. Thus, the tragedy of a life form remaining inside the vehicle incapable of calling for help is avoided.