Methods and systems for autonomous vehicle recharging or refueling are disclosed. Autonomous electric vehicles may be automatically recharged by routing the vehicles to available charging stations when not in operation, according to methods described herein. A charge level of the battery of an autonomous electric vehicle may be monitored until it reaches a recharging threshold, at which point an on-board computer may generate a predicted use profile for the vehicle. Based upon the predicted use profile, a time and location for the vehicle to recharge may be determined. In some embodiments, the vehicle may be controlled to automatically travel to a charging station, recharge the battery, and return to its starting location in order to recharge when not in use.

Methods and systems autonomously parking and retrieving vehicles are disclosed. Available parking spaces or parking facilities may be identified, and the vehicle may be navigated to an available space from a drop-off location without passengers. Special-purpose sensors, GPS data, or wireless signal triangulation may be used to identify vehicles and available parking spots. Upon a user request or a prediction of upcoming user demand, the vehicle may be retrieved autonomously from a parking space. Other vehicles may be autonomously moved to facilitate parking or retrieval.

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. Vehicle collision and/or smart home incident monitoring, damage detection, and responses are also described, with particular focus on the particular challenges associated with incident response for unoccupied vehicles and/or smart homes. Operating data associated with the autonomous vehicle and/or smart home may be received. Within the operating, an unusual condition indicative of a likelihood of incident may be detected. Based on the unusual condition, it may be determined that the incident occurred. Accordingly, a response to the incident may be determined. The response may be implemented by the autonomous vehicle and/or smart home.

Methods and systems autonomously parking and retrieving vehicles are disclosed. Available parking spaces or parking facilities may be identified, and the vehicle may be navigated to an available space from a drop-off location without passengers. Special-purpose sensors, GPS data, or wireless signal triangulation may be used to identify vehicles and available parking spots. Upon a user request or a prediction of upcoming user demand, the vehicle may be retrieved autonomously from a parking space. Other vehicles may be autonomously moved to facilitate parking or retrieval.

A wheel fastener alarm assembly is provided having a fastener body with a first portion defining a wrenching surface and a cavity, and a second portion with a threaded portion to attach and detach from a wheel of a vehicle. A sensor array is disposed in the cavity of fastener body to detect an attribute of the fastener body and generate an output signal based on the attribute of the fastener body. An antenna connected to the sensor array to transmit the signal to a remote location. A cap is secured to the first portion of the fastener body and covers the wrenching surface and the cavity opening to define a capped fastener body.

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. Vehicle collision and/or smart home incident monitoring, damage detection, and responses are also described, with particular focus on the particular challenges associated with incident response for unoccupied vehicles and/or smart homes. Operating data associated with the autonomous vehicle and/or smart home may be received. Within the operating, an unusual condition indicative of a likelihood of incident may be detected. Based on the unusual condition, it may be determined that the incident occurred. Accordingly, a response to the incident may be determined. The response may be implemented by the autonomous vehicle and/or smart home.

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.

An in-vehicle electronic system is mounted to a vehicle. The in-vehicle electronic system includes one or more sensors used to determine a security state of the vehicle, an alarm apparatus configured to issue an alarm when the security state is abnormal, and a first ECU directly connected to the sensor and the alarm apparatus without the intermediation of another ECU and also connected to a plurality of other ECUs, in which the first ECU includes a processor configured to determine a security state based on at least information received from the sensor, and cause the alarm apparatus to operate when it is determined that the security state is abnormal.

A vehicle includes a notification unit that notifies an information processing device of a state of the vehicle; a reception unit that receives a first signal commanding the state to be maintained, from the information processing device; and a control unit that performs control such that maintains the state after lapse of a predetermined time as well when the reception unit receives the first signal within the predetermined time, and that performs control such that the state becomes a state different from the state after lapse of the predetermined time when the reception unit does not receive the first signal from the information processing device within the predetermined time.

An information processing device includes: an acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a state of a vehicle from the vehicle; and a notification unit that performs a first notification regarding the state when the information processing device is outside a predetermined range including the vehicle, and that performs a second notification including more information on the state than the first notification when the information processing device is in the predetermined range.