A system includes a host-transceiver, a radar-sensor, and a controller. The host-transceiver is installed in a host-vehicle and detects a signal from a mobile-transceiver. The radar-sensor detecting movement of one or more body parts of a person proximate to the host-vehicle. The controller is in communication with the host-transceiver and the radar-sensor. The controller activates the radar-sensor in accordance with a determination that the mobile-transceiver is within a distance-threshold of the host-vehicle. The controller provides access to the host-vehicle in accordance with a determination that the movement of the one or more body parts corresponds to one or more predetermined gestures.

A method for controlling at least one vehicle function of a vehicle assembly having a vehicle and a roof rack which is mounted on a roof of the vehicle, wherein a communication link is produced between the roof rack and the vehicle, wherein at least one piece of information comprising the mounting state of the roof rack is transmitted to the vehicle via the communication link, and wherein the piece of information is taken into account in the control of the at least one vehicle function.

A vehicle trunk opening device including an approach checking unit which checks whether a user approaches a trunk of a vehicle and outputs the checked result as an access signal; a movement information acquisition unit for acquiring movement information of the user by responding to an acquisition control signal generated when the vehicle is stationary; a movement analysis unit which analyzes whether the user's movement corresponds to a desired target movement of opening a trunk through the acquired movement information, and which outputs the analyzed result; a trunk opening unit for opening the trunk by responding to an opening control signal; and a main control unit which generates the acquisition control signal by responding to the access signal, and which generates the opening control signal by responding to the analyzed result.

The invention relates to a sensor device (2) for a motor vehicle (1). The sensor device has a light source (10) and a detection device (20), said detection device being formed using an array of optical pixels. The light source (10) and the detection device (20) are coupled to a control and evaluation device (30) which activates the light source (10) to emit light pulses and the detection device to carry out the detection process. The control and evaluation device (30), the detection device (20) and the light source (10) together act as a time-of-flight camera (ToF camera), allowing spatial range data to be detected. The control and evaluation device (30) is designed to operate the light source and the detection device in at least two modes, i.e. an initialization mode and a measuring mode. The control and evaluation device (30) activates the detection device in the initialization, mode and interrogates all the pixels at least once to obtain signals. Each pixel is classified into a group of relevant pixels or into a group of irrelevant pixels depending on the result of this interrogation. The detection in measuring mode is permanently adapted in such a way that only the signals of the pixels from the group of relevant pixels are taken in consideration for the measurement.

The present invention relates to a vehicle access system (1) having a tracking means (11; 23, 25, 27) for tracking a positional movement pattern of a user (D) relative to a vehicle (3). A controller (9) is provided for controlling the opening and/or closing of a vehicle opening (5). The controller (9) communicates with a storage device (15) and the tracking means (11; 23, 25, 27). The controller (9) has a comparator (17) for comparing the positional movement pattern with one or more pre-defined movement maps stored in the storage device (15). The controller is configured to open the vehicle opening when the comparator (17) determines that the positional movement pattern corresponds to a first of the pre-defined movement maps. Alternatively, or in addition the controller can be configured to close the vehicle opening when the comparator (17) determines that the positional movement pattern corresponds to a second of said pre-defined movement maps. The invention also relates to a method of opening/closing a vehicle opening.

Methods and apparatus are disclosed for initiation of vehicle liftgate actuation. An example vehicle includes a liftgate, a proximity sensor for monitoring an activation area of the liftgate, a camera to capture an image of the activation area upon the proximity sensor detecting an object within the activation area, and a liftgate controller. The liftgate controller is to determine, based on the image, whether the object is a leg of a user and actuate the liftgate responsive to determining that the object is the leg.

The invention relates to a method for opening a movable panel of a motor vehicle, comprising the following steps of: projection of at least one light spot (102) with which an authorized user (U) has to interact, determining if there is an intention to open the panel (100), and if soauthorizing the opening of the panel (100). The step of determining if there is an intention to open the panel (100) comprises: acquiring a measurement signal of a movement performed by the user (U), filtering the signal, identifying if the movement performed by the user (U) is in a predefined correct order with at least the following steps: moving the user's part towards the light spot (102), keeping it in the light spot (102) and moving it outside the light spot (102), and determining if the movement performed by the user (U) meets a predefined specific time condition.

A device for contactless actuation of an adjustable vehicle part. The device has a capacitive proximity sensor having a first elongated sensor electrode and a second elongated sensor electrode, as well as a carrier component for fastening the proximity sensor. The carrier component has a curved mounting surface on which the sensor electrodes are placed in such a way that the horizontal distance between the two sensor electrodes over the length of the sensor electrodes is exactly or at least approximately constant, the vertical distance between the sensor electrodes varying over the length of the sensor electrodes.

It is provided a method for controlling an adjusting movement of a power-operated adjustable vehicle closing element, such as e.g. a side door or a liftgate, which can automatically be adjusted in the presence of an operating event. By means of a sensor device an operating event is detected in a contactless way. For the detection of an operating event a course of measurement values detected by the sensor device in a detection time interval is evaluated. Furthermore, at least one trigger signal, in particular a trigger signal of defined signal length and/or a trigger signal that triggers an execution of an authentication process preceding the adjustment of the vehicle closing element, in which the presence of a valid identification means in a vicinity of the vehicle is checked, is generated and sent.

A method for operating a closure panel of a vehicle, comprising: using a processor, determining whether a first proximity sensor and a second proximity sensor located on a periphery of the vehicle have been sequentially activated to indicate an object moving across the first proximity sensor and the second proximity sensor; and, controlling the closure panel to open or close when the first proximity sensor and the second proximity sensor have been sequentially activated.