A system and method for operating an automatic start/stop system in a motor vehicle having an internal combustion engine, an automatic transmission and a torque converter with an impeller disconnect clutch is disclosed. A controller may implement an engine start/stop system by, at appropriate times, stopping engine by halting fuel and restarting engine when propulsion is needed. During an engine start/stop event, the engine is automatically shut down and the impeller clutch of the torque converter may be disengaged to decouple the impeller and the engine to provide for fuel and emissions savings.

A technique for simplifying the structure of an idling stop device. The idling stop device 100 includes a deceleration detector 200 which detects decelerations of a vehicle. The idling stop device 100 also includes an estimation part 350 which acquires, based on the deceleration detected by the deceleration detector 200, first deceleration when a vehicle is decelerated to a preset speed of less. Based on the acquired first deceleration, the estimation part 350 estimates a first brake pressure applied to the vehicle when the vehicle is decelerated to the preset speed or less.

A method for predicting, for a motor vehicle traveling on a first road segment, a future coefficient of friction of the vehicle on a second road segment. The method includes steps of obtaining operating parameters of the vehicle and at least one characteristic of the first road segment, of computing an indicator on the basis of the obtained operating parameters of the vehicle, of determining a frictional category of the vehicle according to the value of the computed indicator and of the at least one obtained characteristic of the road segment, of selecting a friction profile of the vehicle on the basis of the determined frictional category, and of determining a coefficient of friction of the vehicle by applying the selected profile to at least one characteristic of the second road segment. A device for implementing the prediction method is also disclosed.

A vehicle dispatch support system includes a recording section at which comparison vehicle sensitivity information and candidate vehicle sensitivity information are recorded, the comparison vehicle sensitivity information being information relating to a driving sensitivity of a comparison vehicle that is a vehicle that a user has ridden in the past, and the candidate vehicle sensitivity information being information relating to a driving sensitivity of each of a plurality of candidate vehicles, a processor coupled to the recording section and configured to compute a sensitivity difference, which is a difference between the driving sensitivity expressed by the comparison vehicle sensitivity information and the driving sensitivity expressed by the candidate vehicle sensitivity information, and a display section configured to display sensitivity difference-related information, which is information based on the sensitivity difference.

A vehicle warning system is for use with a vehicle having an air horn (30) and a vehicle speed sensor (19) which provides a vehicle speed signal to a vehicle data bus (20). The vehicle warning system has at least one brake pressure sensor (22) to provide a brake pressure signal, an air valve (26), and a controller (24). The controller determines that the brake pressure signal indicates an excessive brake pressure and that the vehicle speed signal indicates an excessive vehicle speed, and opens the air valve to activate the air horn. The controller may read the vehicle speed from the vehicle data bus at periodic intervals or when it determines that there is an excessive brake pressure. The brake pressure is considered to be excessive if it exceeds a brake pressure threshold. The vehicle speed is considered to be excessive if it exceeds a vehicle speed threshold.

The present disclosure includes a system, method, and device related to data collection and communication related to after-market and external vehicle systems, such as towing systems, cargo carrying systems, trailer breakaway systems, brake systems, braking control systems, and the like. Data is sensed, processed, shared, and further leveraged throughout the discrete components of the system, and possibly via internet and other communications' links, to effect various beneficial actions with minimal driver/user interaction or intervention. In the same manner, data from the system may be used for diagnostic reasons, safety controls, and other purposes.

A vehicle control system receives signals from sensors on board a first vehicle and plural other, second vehicles. Based on the signals received from the sensors, the system determines a brake assessment of a brake system, where the brake assessment includes a state of health of the brake system and/or a location of interest of a leak in the brake system. The system controls movement of the first vehicle and the second vehicles relative to at least one remote vehicle system based at least in part on the brake assessment that is determined.

An apparatus and a method are configured for estimating a slope angle of a road. The slope angle of a road is estimated based on a longitudinal slope angle of the road which is calculated based on a Kinematic model, an effective weight corresponding to a control amount of a driver and a filter constant to estimate the slope angle of the road with higher precision in the case of a U-turn, rapid acceleration, or rapid deceleration in which a longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle is remarkably increased. The apparatus includes a controller to estimate the slope angle of the road, based on a longitudinal slope angle of the road which is calculated based on a Kinematic model, an effective weight corresponding to a control amount of a driver and a filter constant, and an output device to output the estimated slope angle of the road.

A dialog confirmation unit in a vehicle communication device calculates the deceleration of a vehicle on the basis of vehicle speeds, when the vehicle speed at an operation start time and the vehicle speed at a time when a certain time has elapsed since the operation start time have been obtained by a vehicle information acquisition unit. Next, the dialog confirmation unit calculates a change in distance on the basis of distances when a distance information acquisition unit has obtained the distance between the vehicle and an object in front at the operation start time and the distance at the time when a certain time has elapsed since the operation start time. Next, the dialog confirmation unit selects a dialog that corresponds to the deceleration and the change in distance, from among a plurality of dialogs.

The present invention provides a vehicle control method capable of suppressing an increase in the frequency of stopping and restarting of the engine when the braking device is activated at the self-driving mode. When the operation mode is set as self-driving, the braking device is activated in accordance with a system deceleration request to keep an actual vehicle-speed at a target vehicle-speed or change the actual vehicle-speed at the target vehicle-speed or lower depending on environment surrounding the vehicle. Further, a braking amount is estimated, the braking amount is a magnitude of a braking force generated from the activated braking device. When the braking amount is an engine-stopping enabling threshold or more, enabling stopping is allowed. When the braking amount is less than the engine-stopping enabling threshold, enabling stopping is not allowed.