An apparatus and safety system usable in, responding to an unauthorized possession of a vehicle configured to transport at least one person, including a vehicle safety system associated therewith, the safety system including to at least one of: a) device to generate at least one form of detectable signal and; b) a device to generate an electronic signal; and c) an apparatus which generates an input to cause the system to generate at least one of: i) the at least one form of detectable audible signal that can be sensed by persons in the vicinity of the vehicle; ii) the electronic signal; and iii) the at least one image of a person in/on the vehicle. The system is configured so that at least one of the at least one form of detectable signal, the electronic signal, and the at least one image is generated after a time delay following the generation of the input to the safety system. The device to generate an electric signal and the system are protected in a protective case.

Methods and systems for assessing, detecting, and responding to malfunctions involving components of autonomous vehicle and/or smart homes are described herein. Autonomous operation features and related components can be assessed using direct or indirect data regarding operation. Such assessment may be performed to determine the condition of components for salvage following a collision or other loss-event. To this end, the information regarding a plurality of components may be received. A component of the plurality of components may be identified for assessment. Assessment may including causing test signals to be sent to the identified component. In response to the test signal, one or more responses may be received. The received response may be compared to an expected response to determine whether the identified component is salvageable.

A tire theft monitoring system includes a transmitter attached to a tire and configured to transmit tire ID information, a second database configured to store the vehicle ID information of the vehicle and contact information of an owner of the vehicle in association with each other, and a monitoring apparatus mounted on a vehicle to be monitored, and the monitoring apparatus includes a reader configured to perform near field communication with the transmitter attached to the tire mounted on the vehicle to be monitored, to acquire the tire ID information, and a controller configured to, in a case where the reader cannot acquire the tire ID information, determine that the tire identified with the tire ID information has been stolen and make a notification to contact information stored in the second database in association with vehicle ID information of the vehicle to be monitored.

Methods and systems for enhancing the functionality of a semi-autonomous vehicle are described herein. The semi-autonomous vehicle may receive a communication from a fully autonomous vehicle within a threshold distance of the semi-autonomous vehicle. If the vehicles are travelling on the same route or the same portion of a route, the semi-autonomous vehicle may navigate to a location behind the fully autonomous vehicle. Then the semi-autonomous vehicle may operate autonomously by replicating one or more functions performed by the fully autonomous vehicle. The functions and/or maneuvers performed by the fully autonomous vehicle may be detected via sensors in the semi-autonomous vehicle and/or may be identified by communicating with the fully autonomous vehicle to receive indications of upcoming maneuvers. In this manner, the semi-autonomous vehicle may act as a fully autonomous vehicle.

Vehicle occupant monitoring systems and methods detect that an outer handle of the vehicle is used to open a door, and determine a key fob state of the vehicle. On condition that the key fob state of the vehicle is undetected, at least one type of alert is transmitted to a mobile device associated with the vehicle.

A vehicle control system includes a control part in which a public road mode that is selected at a time of traveling on a public road and a non-public road mode of a setting that is suitable for a travel in a non-public road region are set as a travel mode, wherein the control part is configured to allow a safety protection component of a vehicle to perform a normal operation that is required at a time of traveling on a public road when the public road mode is selected and is configured to allow the safety protection component to perform an alarm operation that is different from the normal operation when the non-public road mode is selected.

Methods and systems for assessing, detecting, and responding to malfunctions involving components of autonomous vehicle and/or smart homes are described herein. Autonomous operation features and related components can be assessed using direct or indirect data regarding operation. Such assessment may be performed to determine the condition of components for salvage following a collision or other loss-event. To this end, the information regarding a plurality of components may be received. A component of the plurality of components may be identified for assessment. Assessment may including causing test signals to be sent to the identified component. In response to the test signal, one or more responses may be received. The received response may be compared to an expected response to determine whether the identified component is salvageable.

The present invention is a theft deterrent system for a catalytic converter. The present invention alerts anyone nearby an automotive vehicle when someone is trying to steal the catalytic converter. The underside of the automotive vehicle is monitored by the present invention and the present invention can act independently or be integrated into the existing alarm system. The present invention can be positioned at various points across the underside of the automotive vehicle in order to accommodate different types of automotive vehicles. Furthermore, the present invention may be integrated into an aftermarket automotive vehicle alarm system without attaching or physically connecting with the automotive vehicle catalytic converter. This allows the automotive vehicle catalytic converter to remain uninhibited by the present invention while still being monitored by the security system.

Methods and systems for communicating between autonomous vehicles are described herein. Such communication may be performed for signaling, collision avoidance, path coordination, and/or autonomous control. A computing device may receive data for the same road segment from autonomous vehicles, including (i) an indication of a location within the road segment, and (ii) an indication of a condition of the road segment. The computing device may generate, from the data for the same road segment, an overall indication of the condition of the road segment, which may include a recommendation to vehicles approaching the road segment. Additionally, the computing device may receive a request from a computing device within a vehicle approaching the road segment to display vehicle data. The overall indication for the road segment may then be displayed on a user interface of the computing device.

Methods and systems for assessing, detecting, and responding to malfunctions involving components of autonomous vehicles and/or smart homes are described herein. Autonomous operation features and related components can be assessed using direct or indirect data regarding operation. Such assessment may be performed to determine the robustness of autonomous systems, including the use of virtual assessment of software components within a simulated environment. To this end, a server may retrieve one or more routines associated with autonomous operation. The server may also generate a set of test data associated with test conditions. The server may also execute an emulator that virtually simulates autonomous environment. The test data may be presented to the routines executing in the emulator to generate output data. The server may then analyze the output data to determine a quality metric.