A system comprising: a heater located within a steering wheel and a heater located within a vehicle seat; wherein the steering wheel is a first plate and the vehicle seat is a second plate and a shift in a signal is monitored from the first plate, the second plate, or both so that a presence and absence of an occupant is detected, and wherein the heater in the steering wheel and the heater in the vehicle seat are a sensor.

A device for detecting the position of a person on a cushion includes at least two moisture sensors located in the cushion.

An in-vehicle control apparatus performs a hazard avoidance process. The in-vehicle control apparatus includes an anomaly determination section, an alarm control section, and a hazard avoidance control section. The anomaly determination section determines whether a driver is under driving inability state during travel of the vehicle, based on information on monitoring of state of the driver. The alarm control section activates an alarm annunciator to issue an alarm outwardly from the vehicle when the driver is determined to be under driving inability state. After the alarm annunciator starts the alarm, the hazard avoidance control section fails to perform the hazard avoidance process when the alarm is stopped by a manipulation of the driver and performs the hazard avoidance process when a specified time elapses under state where the alarm is not stopped since the starting of the alarm.

Various systems and methods are presented regarding controlling respective positions of a seat back and seat base to mitigate the risk of a vehicle occupant submarining in the event of the vehicle being involved in a collision/rapid deceleration. Positioning of the seat back/seat base can be controlled in accordance with the occupant's physiology and posture, e.g., reclining. Cameras/radar sensors in the passenger compartment in conjunction with seat sensors can be generate physiology/positioning data, which can be processed, and based thereon, the seat back/base positions can be controlled by one or more motors.

A method and an apparatus for identifying occupancy of a seat use a camera. In order to achieve permanently reliable identification of the occupancy of a seat, the camera is oriented such that it captures at least one area of interest of the seat. An evaluation apparatus is used to identify the area of interest in a picture taken by the camera and to store a position for the area of interest. The evaluation apparatus selects the area of interest in pictures subsequently taken by the camera at the stored position and compares the area of interest with at least one stored picture sample. A result of this comparison is taken as a basis for identifying the seat as being occupied. In addition, an apparatus having a camera and an evaluation apparatus is described for performing the method.

A determination apparatus includes: an receiver receives a distance image including a first region located between a first position and a second position, a second region located between the first position and the second position and located closer to the second position than the first region, a third region set within a predetermined area from an operation unit of a piece of equipment installed in front of the first position and the second position; a detector that, on a basis of the distance image, detects a first physical object of a predetermined size or larger in at least either the first region or the second region and detects a second physical object of a predetermined size or larger in the third region; and a determiner, when, in a case where the first physical object and the second physical object have been detected, the first physical object is included in the first region, determines that an operator of the piece of equipment is present in the first position or, when, in a case where the first physical object and the second physical object have been detected, the first physical object is included in the second region, determines that an operator of the piece of equipment is present in the second position.

A car seat system for automatically displacing the movable components of the car seat. The car seat including sensors and a computing module to detect the measurements of a child placed in the car seat. The car seat system determines the current position of the movable components and displaces the movable components automatically based on the child's measurements or a desired amount. The car seat system automatically learns child's behaviors when the child is placed in the car seat. The car seat system learns schedules utilized by the child, routes taken by the driver of the car, and other data over a period of time. The behavioral, scheduling, routing, and other data obtained is stored by the car seat system and utilized to enhance the safety and comfortability of the child during a car ride. The car seat system also determines thickness of clothing worn by the child while placed in the car seat and adjusts the shoulder belts to accommodate for the clothing while providing a snug fit of the shoulder belts that fall within safety recommendations. The car seat also auto reclines to a desired angle and also rotates about itself to face the door. The car seat system includes an auto-incident detection mode. In this mode, the system detects an incident, such as an accident, hard braking, or another hazard, and automatically displaces the features in the car seat to make the car seat secure during the crash minimizing the effect of the incident on the child. The car seat also includes pretionsioners and motors to release, pull back, and lock the car seat belts.

A seating posture is stabilized for the shoulders of a passenger seated on a vehicle seat. A vehicle seat is provided with a seat back configured to support the seated person from the rear. A shoulder support portion of the seat back configured to support a corresponding one of the shoulders of the seated passenger includes an air cell configured to expand when air is supplied. When the air cell expands, one end portion of the shoulder support portion on the outside in the width direction of the vehicle seat moves more forward than the other end portion of the shoulder support portion on the inside in the width direction.

A device and a method for controlling a seat of a vehicle includes a detector for detecting vehicle environment information, a vibration generator mounted on the vehicle seat to generate the seat vibration, and a controller electrically connected to the detector and the vibration generator, and the controller detects seat environment information through the detector, determines a weight and a sitting posture of a user seated in the vehicle seat based on the seat environment information, determines a vibration pattern and a vibration excitation force based on the weight and the sitting posture of the user, and generates the seat vibration by controlling the vibration generator based on the determined vibration pattern and vibration excitation force.

A seating posture is stabilized for the shoulders of a passenger seated on a vehicle seat. A vehicle seat is provided with a seat back configured to support the seated person from the rear. A shoulder support portion of the seat back configured to support a corresponding one of the shoulders of the seated passenger includes an air cell configured to expand when air is supplied. When the air cell expands, one end portion of the shoulder support portion on the outside in the width direction of the vehicle seat moves more forward than the other end portion of the shoulder support portion on the inside in the width direction.