Method for controlling a vehicle including a smartphone-engaging coupling element. Data about operational status of the vehicle is transferred from one or more vehicle-resident systems to a smartphone when the smartphone is engaged with the coupling element. Commands are received by the vehicle from the smartphone when the smartphone is engaged with the coupling element, which commands being based in part on data previously transferred from the vehicle-resident system(s) to the smartphone when the smartphone is engaged with the coupling element. A vehicular system, e.g., seat positioning system, mirror positioning system, passenger compartment temperature control system, route guidance or navigation system, changes its operation in accordance with the commands received by the vehicle from the smartphone when the smartphone is engaged with the coupling element.

The present invention provides an occupant classification apparatus for a vehicle. The occupant classification apparatus for a vehicle includes a sensor mat that is mounted on each seat in the vehicle to sense objects disposed on the seats. An impedance measurer is configured to measure a current based on impedance of the object using the sensor mat A controller is configured to analyze the current measured by the impedance measurer and estimate the object that corresponds to the analyzed result.

An attachment structure of a vehicular module to a ceiling of a vehicle cabin of a vehicle includes a design member. The design member is configured to attach, to the ceiling, the module including an in-cabin sensor configured to perform detection in the vehicle cabin, and includes a securing portion configured to be secured to a vehicle-body ceiling member of the vehicle or an interior ceiling member disposed on a vehicle cabin side of the vehicle-body ceiling member, a downward protrusion protruding downward from the securing portion, and a design constituent extending from the downward protrusion and covering the securing portion. In an accommodating space defined between the downward protrusion and the design constituent, the in-cabin sensor is supported by the design member in such a manner that, above the accommodating space, a gap is left between the in-cabin sensor and the vehicle-body ceiling member or the interior ceiling member.

A device for activating/deactivating an airbag function of an airbag assigned to a vehicle seat in a vehicle, having an identification system for occupant identification and having an evaluation unit, by which the occupant located on the vehicle seat is classifiable on the basis of the sensor data of the identification system. The evaluation unit activates or deactivates the airbag function in dependence on the occupant classification. The identification system has a plurality of different sensors, i.e., an interior sensor, an exterior sensor, a vehicle seat sensor, a belt sensor, a baggage compartment sensor, and/or a speech recognition sensor. The evaluation unit carries out the occupant classification on the basis of all sensor data.

A method of sensing occupancy of a vehicle using ultra-wide band (UWB) communication includes transmitting and receiving a UWB signal within the vehicle, obtaining channel impulse response (CIR) data corresponding to the UWB signal as received within the vehicle, calculating power delay profile (PDP) results for the CIR data, determining, based on the calculated PDP results, the occupancy of the vehicle, and at least one of generating, storing, and transmitting occupancy sensing results based on the determined occupancy of the vehicle. The occupancy sensing results include data that indicates at least one of a presence of occupants within the vehicle, a number of occupants within the vehicle, and locations of occupants within the vehicle.

The control device controls a vehicle towing a trailer. The control device is configured to determine whether or not a user is present in the trailer when a shift range is in the parking range. The control device is configured to ignore a shift range switching operation by a driver when the shift range switching operation is performed while a user is present in the trailer.

A system capable of determining a type of a passenger sitting on a seat according to a body type is disclosed. The system includes a seat detecting means detecting a position of a seat and an angle of a seat back, a passenger detecting means detecting a passenger based on a state where a specific passenger normally sits on the seat, and a controller detecting a passenger's body part along with a seat-back area where the seat back is positioned and a passenger area where the passenger is positioned using information detected by the seat detecting means and the passenger detecting means, and learning a parameter value that is input as a relationship of detected information and a classification result for a body type of the passenger that is output by the parameter value, thus setting a body-type classification model.

A method of sensing occupancy of a vehicle using ultra-wide band (UWB) communication includes transmitting and receiving a UWB signal within the vehicle, obtaining channel impulse response (CIR) data corresponding to the UWB signal as received within the vehicle, calculating power delay profile (PDP) results for the CIR data, determining, based on the calculated PDP results, the occupancy of the vehicle, and at least one of generating, storing, and transmitting occupancy sensing results based on the determined occupancy of the vehicle. The occupancy sensing results include data that indicates at least one of a presence of occupants within the vehicle, a number of occupants within the vehicle, and locations of occupants within the vehicle.