An electronic control device includes a control command generation unit that generates and outputs a control command for controlling a first control object; a communication unit that performs communication with another electronic control device that controls a second control object; a communication abnormality determination unit that determines whether communication with the another electronic control device by the communication unit is abnormal; and a reset determination unit that determines whether the another electronic control device is reset based on a change in a sensor signal related to a state of the second control object when the communication abnormality determination unit determines that the communication with the another electronic control device is abnormal.

Methods and systems for monitoring use, determining risk, and pricing insurance policies for a vehicle having one or more autonomous or semi-autonomous operation features are provided. According to certain aspects, the operating status of the features, the identity of a vehicle operator, risk levels for operation of the vehicle by the vehicle operator, or damage to the vehicle may be determined based upon sensor or other data. According to further aspects, decisions regarding transferring control between the features and the vehicle operator may be made based upon sensor data and information regarding the vehicle operator. Additional aspects may recommend or install updates to the autonomous operation features based upon determined risk levels. Some aspects may include monitoring transportation infrastructure and communicating information about the infrastructure to vehicles.

The present disclosure relates to a noise control apparatus, vehicle having the same and method for controlling the vehicle to reduce indoor noise. In accordance with an aspect of disclosure, the vehicle collects sound by using a sound collector while driving the vehicle; detects vibration occurring in the vehicle by using a vibration detector; detects an occupant in the vehicle by using an occupant detector; generates a virtual reference signal based on an actual reference signal for the detected vibration; acquires location information of the occupant's ear based on the occupant information; generates a virtual error signal based on the acquired ear location information and the actual noise signal for the collected sound; generates a noise control signal based on the virtual error signal and the virtual reference signal; and outputs the generated noise control signal as sound.

Provided are methods related to autonomous vehicle with microphone safety. The method can include obtaining, using a microphone array and at least one processor, a plurality of microphone input signals including a first microphone input signal and a second microphone input signal; determining, using the at least one processor, an impact on the microphone array based on the first microphone input signal and the second microphone input signal; and providing, via an interface and using the at least one processor, an instruction associated with the impact. Systems and computer program products are also provided.

Vehicles may be composed of a relatively few number of “modules” that are assembled together during a final assembly process. An example vehicle may include a body module, a first drive module coupled to a first end of the body module, and a second drive module coupled to a second end of the body module. One or both of the drive modules may include a pair of wheels, a battery, an electric drive motor, and/or a heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. One or both of the drive modules may also include a crash structure to absorb impacts. If a component of a drive module fails or is damaged, the drive module can be quickly and easily replaced with a new drive module, minimizing vehicle down time.

An apparatus including an interface and a processor. The interface may be configured to receive area data and sensor data from a plurality of vehicle sensors. The processor may be configured to extract road characteristics for a location from the area data, predict expected sensor readings at the location for the plurality of sensors based on the road characteristics, calculate dynamic limits for the sensor data in response to the expected sensor readings and determine a plausibility of the sensor data received from the interface when the vehicle reaches the location. The sensor data may be plausible if the sensor data is within the dynamic limits. A confidence level of the sensor data may be adjusted in response to the plausibility of the sensor data.

A method for controlling a driving assistance feature of a vehicle is disclosed. The method comprises determining a state of a driver of the vehicle by means of a driver monitoring system (DMS) the state of the driver comprising at least one attention parameter, and comparing the determined state of the driver with a predefined attention model. The predefined attention model comprises an independent threshold range for each attention parameter. The method further comprises controlling the driving assistance feature based on the comparison between the determined state of the driver and the predefined attention model.

A method for compensating sensor tolerances of accelerometers of a vehicle. The method includes following steps: recording of measurement signals of at least three similarly oriented accelerometers, calculation of an acceleration (a.sub.b,z) at a reference position in the spatial direction, which corresponds to the orientation of the accelerometers, low-pass filtering of the measurement signals, determination of tolerance parameters (c.sub.x, c.sub.y, c.sub.z) of each sensor via an optimization method with the aid of the calculated acceleration (a.sub.b,z) at the reference position, and calculation of the adjusted measurement signals from the recorded measurement signals and the tolerance parameters (c.sub.x, c.sub.y, c.sub.z).

Techniques are described for determining weight distribution of a vehicle. A method of performing autonomous driving operation includes determining a vehicle weight distribution that values for each axle of the vehicle that describe weight or pressure applied on a respective axle. The values of the vehicle weight distribution are determined by removing at least one value that is outside a range of pre-determined values from a set of sensor values. The method further includes determining a driving-related operation of the vehicle weight distribution. For example, the driving-related operation may include determining a braking amount for each axle and/or determining a maximum steering angle to operate the vehicle. The method further includes controlling one or more subsystems in the vehicle via an instruction related to the driving-related operation. For example, transmitting the instruction to the one or more subsystems causes the vehicle to perform the driving-related operation.

An environment detection device for a vehicle is includes a sensor unit for determining environment information of a surrounding area of the vehicle itself, with a temperature measurement unit, configured to measure at least one state temperature of the sensor unit, and with a controller, configured to trigger at least one action for reducing the state temperature if a prescribed temperature warning value is exceeded.