A control device and a method for triggering a passenger protection arrangement for a vehicle are provided, an interface being provided that is used to receive at least one signal whose amplitude is a function of the vehicle battery voltage or a substitute voltage that takes its place. Furthermore, a trigger circuit is provided that triggers the passenger protection arrangement as a function of at least one signal. The interface has a circuit that derives at least one switching threshold from a supply voltage produced in the control device (substitute voltage that is retained for a certain amount of time in the autarchy case/under-supply case/contact problems) to detect the at least one signal, and one switching threshold that is directly derived from the battery voltage (standard), or from the amplitude of the bus voltage.

An occupant protection device capable of protecting occupants at a higher level is provided. An occupant protection device comprises a first sensor for detecting a value concerning a rotation angle of a vehicle, a second sensor for detecting an acceleration in the vehicle longitudinal direction, and a collision determination section adapted to determinate whether or not a collision has occurred to the vehicle based on the detection result of the first sensor and to determinate whether or not the collision has occurred to the vehicle also based on the detection result of the second sensor.

A safety guard which functions to push objects lying in the path of a vehicle out of the path of the wheels of the vehicle, such as a school bus, for safety purposes includes a front guard includes a first, fixed guard section and a second, movable guard section positioned at an angle of at least 30 in front of at least one wheel of the vehicle beneath the vehicle. More particularly, the first and second guard sections are hingedly interconnected such that the second guard section can pivot or otherwise shift from a first operational position to at least a second operational position relative to the first guard section upon engagement with an animate or inanimate object. At the same time, the second guard section is biased or otherwise forcibly shiftable by an actuator, such as a shock absorbing device, toward the first operational position.

Provided are an automatic alerting device and an automatic alerting method capable of producing an alert indicating that there has been a vehicle accident to those nearby the site of the accident. The automatic alerting device has: a state-detecting unit for detecting a vehicle state; an accident-determining unit for determining, on the basis of the vehicle state detected by the state-detecting unit, whether or not a vehicle accident has occurred; an alerting unit for producing an alert to the outside of the vehicle; and a control unit for controlling the alerting unit. The alerting unit has: an alarm that emits a sound to the outside of the vehicle; and a hazard lamp that emits light on the outside of the vehicle. When the accident-determining unit determines that there has been a vehicle accident, the control unit makes the alarm emit a sound and the hazard lamp emit light.

An integrated sensor device (130) according to an embodiment includes a sensing element (140) and a communication interface (150) to communicate with an external control device (110). The communication interface (150) includes a receiver circuit (160) to receive, from the external device, a signal indicating a request to change a transmission mode, and a transmitter circuit (170) to change the transmission mode based on the received signal. By using an embodiment, it may be possible to improve a trade-off between a robustness of a system comprising a sensor even under adverse operational conditions, simplifying such an implementation or architecture, its energy consumption and a bandwidth of its infrastructure.

A rear occupant alert device according to an embodiment comprises a first object detection unit; a second object detection unit; and a control unit configured to control operations of the first and second object detection units, wherein the first object detection unit includes a passive infrared sensor (PIR) sensor, wherein the second object detection unit includes a radar module, and the control unit is configured to control a movement of an object inside a vehicle through the first object detection unit, and to control a movement of an object through the second object detection unit when the movement of the object is not detected through the first object detection unit.

A system and method include a first device and a vehicle in communication with the first device. The vehicle includes a front trunk, a camera disposed within the front trunk; and a vehicle controller controlling the camera to capture an image for the front trunk and communicating the image in an image signal to the first device.

A system and method include a first device and a vehicle in communication with the first device. The vehicle includes a front trunk, a camera disposed within the front trunk; and a vehicle controller controlling the camera to capture an image for the front trunk and communicating the image in an image signal to the first device.

Systems and methods are provided for dampening impact to a vehicle. The system may include a vehicle frame component; a plurality of adjustable exterior vehicle body components coupled to the frame component, wherein the vehicle body components are on different sides of a vehicle and are configurable to dampen an external force exerted on the vehicle; a plurality of actuator components configured to adjust physical configurations of the vehicle body components relative to the frame component; a component configured to collect data representing an external environment of the vehicle; and one or more processors configured to detect, by processing the data, an external driving condition, wherein the external driving condition is an impending collision between the vehicle and one or more objects external to the vehicle, and when the external driving condition is detected, cause the actuator components to correspondingly adjust the physical configurations of the vehicle body components.

Systems and methods are provided for dampening impact to a vehicle. The system may include a vehicle frame component; a plurality of adjustable exterior vehicle body components coupled to the frame component, wherein the vehicle body components are on different sides of a vehicle and are configurable to dampen an external force exerted on the vehicle; a plurality of actuator components configured to adjust physical configurations of the vehicle body components relative to the frame component; a component configured to collect data representing an external environment of the vehicle; and one or more processors configured to detect, by processing the data, an external driving condition, wherein the external driving condition is an impending collision between the vehicle and one or more objects external to the vehicle, and when the external driving condition is detected, cause the actuator components to correspondingly adjust the physical configurations of the vehicle body components.