In a parked vehicle, a head unit operating in low-power mode draws attention to a living being in a cabin of a parked vehicle. It does so by using a microphone to monitor said cabin for out-of-domain sounds, detecting a signal originating within said cabin, said signal being an acoustic signal that is representative of an out-of-domain sound, classifying said acoustic signal as being indicative of the existence of the living being within said cabin of said vehicle, and sending an alert to a first person.

A vehicle can include one or more movably mounted cameras that are able to move to adjust a viewing angle of the camera(s) relative to a body of the vehicle. The camera(s) may be movable by virtue of being coupled to a movable side mirror, such that movement of the side mirror changes a field of view of the camera coupled to the side mirror. For example, the side mirror can be rotated about a rotational axis between a first position in which a field of view of the camera is directed in a first direction (e.g. toward a ground proximate the vehicle), and a second position in which the field of view of the camera is directed in a second direction, different than the first direction (e.g., outward from the vehicle or toward a door of the vehicle).

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 vehicle theft-prevention apparatus can include a slip clutch mechanism, a locking mechanism, and a cylindrical body including a first portion and a second portion. The first portion can be configured to rotate about the second portion. The locking mechanism can be configured to engage based on rotation of the first portion relative to the second portion in a first direction, and disengage based on a rotation of the first portion relative to the second portion in a second direction. The slip clutch mechanism can be configured to prevent the locking mechanism from further engaging from rotation in the first direction relative to the second portion based on a magnitude of force applied.

Examples provide a multicolor light device having a plurality of lockable functions, such as color combinations and flash pattern functions. At production, one or more of the available functions are placed in a locked state in which the locked function is inoperable. The dealer or user can obtain an unlock code to unlock one or more light colors and/or flash patterns when desired. Thus, if a user wants the red and blue lights to be operable, the user can obtain one or more unlock codes to unlock the red and/or blue lights in the user-selected flash patterns and color combinations. When unlocked, the selected function operates normally. A data storage device on the multicolor light device stores an assigned UID, a set of available functions associated with the plurality of LED lights, and a lock status of each function in the set of available functions.

Examples provide a system and method for remote management of lockable devices associated with emergency vehicles. A lockable device is a device, such as a multicolor light device or a siren device having one or more available functions which are initially placed in a locked state at the time of manufacture. A user can unlock the locked functions by logging into a remote device manager on a user device while the locked device is connected to the user device. The user selects one or more locked functions to unlock. The remote device manager generates a unique unlock code for each locked function selected for unlock. The unlock code is returned to the user device for utilization in unlocking the selected functions. The unlock code enables operation of the locked function. A lock status is updated to indicate which functions have been unlocked.

A vehicle includes an authentication key system for identifying an authentication key, an occupant sensor for detecting an occupant and generating occupant information, a display to display information regarding vehicle operation, and a controller to control the authentication key system, the occupant sensor, and the display, wherein the controller is further configured to identify a starting authentication key used to turn on the vehicle, identify a driver's getting off in a state in which the vehicle is turned on, identify whether an assistant driver is present inside the vehicle based on the occupant information, and control the display to provide a notification that the starting authentication key has been removed from the vehicle or a notification of vehicle theft warning based on whether the starting authentication key or another authentication key is present and whether the assistant driver is present in the vehicle, after the driver gets off the vehicle.

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.

A vehicle theft-prevention system can include a mobile application that can determine a location of the mobile device. One or more computing devices can be in communication with the mobile application via a network. The mobile application and the at least one computing device configured to determine that the location of the mobile device has moved outside of a geofence associated with a vehicle theft-prevention apparatus. The mobile application and the at least one computing device can cause the vehicle theft-prevention apparatus to change from an unarmed mode to an armed mode.

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.