A child safety seat is provided and includes a base, a seat body and a notifying system. The seat body is movable relative to the base between a first position and a second position. The notifying system includes at least one actuated device, an actuating component and a notifying device. The at least one actuated device is disposed on one of the base and the seat body. The actuating component is disposed on another one of the base and the seat body and for actuating the at least one actuated device when the seat body reaches at least one of the first position and the second position. The notifying device is electrically connected to the at least one actuated device and configured to generate different types of notifying signals in response to the at least one actuated device when the seat body reaches the first position and the second position.

A number of variations may include placement of germicidal ultraviolet-C (UV-C) light treatments within vehicle interiors/exteriors to minimize material surface microbial growth and contamination, and sanitizes vehicle surfaces. A number of variations may include vehicles including UV-C light devices mounted in or on the vehicle to treat interiors/exteriors of the vehicle to minimize material surface microbial growth and contamination, and sanitize vehicle surfaces.

A vehicle occupant detection system including at least one weight sensing pad, at least one infrared sensor, and at least one motion sensor disposed within an automobile. Each of the at least one weight sensing pad, the at least one infrared sensor, and the at least one motion sensor is in operational communication with each of a battery and a computer system of the automobile. The computer system is configured to activate at least one of a horn, an alarm, an engine, at least one power window, a wireless communication with a remotely disposed fob, a wireless text communication with a remotely disposed personal electronic device, and a cellular communication with an emergency responder when at least one of the at least one infrared sensor, the at least one weight sensing pad, and the at least one motion sensor detects a passenger disposed within the vehicle.

Vehicular control method to avoid collisions in which a smartphone is coupled to the vehicle while in a vehicular compartment. Data is generated from vehicle-resident sensors about operation of the vehicle and transferred from the vehicle to the smartphone while the smartphone is coupled to the vehicle. A communications network with another vehicle is established using the smartphone and the data transferred from the vehicle to the smartphone and data from sensors on the smartphone is transmitted via the smartphone and established communications network to other vehicle, the data including data about location and movement of the vehicle. Then, while the smartphone is coupled to the vehicle, a vehicular operational function is controlled based in part on data transmitted using the smartphone and established communications network to cause movement of the vehicle to change in order to avoid a collision with the other vehicle.

The present disclosure provides various examples of a self-declaring wireless device installed on a vehicle operable to automatically detect, determine and declare occupancy information of the vehicle traveling on a restricted traffic lane to an electronic toll collection (ETC) system. According to one aspect, a process for performing self-declaration by a vehicle traveling on a restricted traffic lane includes the steps of: receiving sensor data collected by one or more sensors installed on the vehicle; determining occupancy data of the vehicle based on the received sensor data; and controlling a wireless transceiver installed on the vehicle to communicate with an electronic toll collection (ETC) system associated with the restricted traffic lane based on the determined occupancy data.

Aspects of the disclosure relate to apparatus and methods for unattended occupant protection system (UOPS) safety systems for passenger vehicles. The UOPS safety system may include a UOPS module. The module may be integrated with a vehicle data bus of the passenger vehicle. The module may be in communication with a plurality of UOPS sensors. The module may launch an equalization mode in response to determining, via the UOPS sensors, the presence of an unattended occupant in the passenger vehicle with a high or rising ambient temperature. The equalization mode may stabilize the ambient temperature of the passenger vehicle.

The systems and methods described herein can be applied to a vehicle equipped with a sensor suite that can observe information about a location, for example, a traffic light duration. The system can record information, e.g., the traffic light colors, duration of color changes, and location of the traffic lights and can upload this information to the cloud. Then, the system can augment or learn about the location, e.g., learning of traffic patterns, and store the augmented data as database-based information, where available. The learned information can help a requesting vehicle to better estimate an estimated time of arrival (ETA) for common routes taken, provide more accurate ETAs based on historical knowledge, and/or calculate or provide alternative route information.

A computing device in a vehicle can be programmed to receive an occupant position measurement from at least one of an acoustic and a light sensor, determine an estimated occupant size based on occupant weight, estimate a vehicle seat position based on the occupant position measurement, and, control a vehicle occupant safety device based on the estimated occupant size and estimated vehicle seat position.

A system and method for deciphering signals and messages from a control unit, and mapping those signals to the associated sensors to create a map of the sensor status. The map of the sensor status is then used in conjunction with a dongle and software application to interface with the control unit, able to receive messages from the control unit to monitor the status of the sensors, and to send messages to the control unit to manipulate the sensors. The system and method can further be used to interface with the electronic control unit of a vehicle to detect unattended access of the vehicle and ensure no passengers are left abandoned in the vehicle, such as by sending alerts to a mobile device of the user, triggering alarms in the vehicle, or sending alerts to emergency services.

A reclining rear seat system is provided for a motor vehicle. That reclining rear seat system includes a front seat, a first actuator for displacing the front seat between a first position and a second position, a reclining rear seat and a second actuator for displacing the reclining rear seat between an upright position and fully reclined position. Further the system includes a controller configured to control the reclining rear seat system and a front seat occupant sensor.