Vehicle cabin monitoring using a radar unit centrally positioned within the cabin to obtain image data of the vehicle cabin and a processor to generate detect occupancy of seats within the vehicle cabin, categorize occupants, detect posture, determine seatbelt status and monitor life signs of the occupants. An output unit may execute responses appropriate to the status of occupants of the vehicle cabin.

System and method for obtaining and recording information about cargo includes a frame defining a cargo-receivable compartment, a position determining system at least partly on the frame and that allows for determination of position of the frame, an identification system on the frame that obtains information about cargo when present in the compartment, a memory component that receives and records information about position and movement of the frame, and the obtained information about cargo when present in the compartment in association with a unique identification of the frame, and a communications system on the frame to enable communication of information to and from the memory component.

A vehicle includes a door sensor configured to detect opening and closing of a door; a radar provided in the vehicle and configured to acquire radar data regarding an object in the vehicle; a seatbelt sensor configured to detect a state of a seat belt provided on each seat of the vehicle; a seatbelt indicator configured to provide a notification regarding fastening of the seat belt; and a controller configured to control the radar in response to the opening and the closing of the door, perform a first check regarding the state of the seatbelt, check an occupancy and an occupied position of the object based on the radar data, identify a type of the object in the vehicle based on the radar data, and determine an operating state of the seatbelt indicator based on the type of the object and the occupied position of the object.

A method for sensing occupancy status within an automotive vehicle uses a radar sensor system having an antenna system, at least one sensor and processing circuitry. The method comprises: illuminating, using the antenna system, at least one occupiable position within the vehicle with an outgoing radar signal; receiving, using at least one sensor, at least one sensor signal reflected as a result of the outgoing radar signal; obtaining accelerometer data value from at least one accelerometer, the accelerometer data containing information regarding vibration or motion of the automotive vehicle and supplying the accelerometer data to the processing circuitry; and operating the processing circuitry for generating, based on the at least one sensor signal and on the accelerometer data, one or more occupancy status signals, the occupancy status signal indicating a property related to the at least one occupiable position.

A centralized occupancy detection system enables monitoring of multiple seats, or more generally, multiple stations, with a single sensor. One illustrative vehicle includes: one or more stations each configured to accommodate an occupant of the vehicle, a radar-reflective surface, and a radar transceiver configured to use the radar-reflective surface to detect an occupant of at least one of the stations. Another illustrative vehicle includes: multiple stations to each accommodate an occupant of the vehicle, and a radar transceiver configured to examine each of the multiple stations to determine whether that station has an occupant.

Wireless occupancy sensors and methods for using the same are provided. In some embodiments, an occupancy sensor includes: a magnetometer that detects changes in a magnetic field when a vehicle moves over the magnetometer; an optical sensor that detects one or more objects in a field of view of the optical sensor; a transmitter for transmitting sensor data to a gateway device, and a processor that controls the magnetometer, the optical sensor, and the transmitter. In some embodiments, the processor is configured to: detect, using the magnetometer, that a change in the magnetic field is greater than a particular threshold value; in response to the magnetometer detecting that the change in the magnetic field is greater than the particular threshold value, activating the optical sensor; receive, using the optical sensor, the sensor data associated with the one or more objects in the field of view of the optical sensor; and transmit, using the transmitter, the sensor data to the gateway device.

An improved vehicle safety device for activating an alarm when the temperature in the interior of a vehicle reaches an extreme value. The device includes a presence sensor for detecting the presence of a human or an animal in the interior of a vehicle and a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature in the vehicle interior. A controller is coupled to the presence detector, the temperature detector, and the vehicle ignition system for generating a hazardous-condition signal in response to an extreme-temperature condition in the vehicle when a human or an animal is in the vehicle and the vehicle engine is not running. An alarm module is connected to the controller for generating audible, visual, and wireless emergency-response signals when a hazardous condition is detected. The alarm module may also be further configured to create a door-unlocking signal.

A method of operating a radar sensor system for determining a number of passengers in a vehicle passenger compartment. The radar sensor system includes at least one radar transmitting antenna and at least one radar receiving antenna and an evaluation and control unit for evaluating Doppler information from the received radar waves. The method includes: transmitting radar waves towards the vehicle passenger compartment; receiving radar waves reflected by a passenger or by passengers being present in the vehicle passenger compartment; generating received radar signals from the received radar waves; mathematically decomposing the received radar signals into a plurality of received signal components; providing values of the received signal components regarding a characteristic parameter to a classifier trained with a plurality of scenarios; identifying one of trained scenarios, based on the provided values; and generating an output signal indicative of the identified scenario.

A centralized occupancy detection system enables monitoring of multiple seats, or more generally, multiple stations, with a single sensor. One illustrative vehicle includes: one or more stations each configured to accommodate an occupant of the vehicle, a radar-reflective surface, and a radar transceiver configured to use the radar-reflective surface to detect an occupant of at least one of the stations. Another illustrative vehicle includes: multiple stations to each accommodate an occupant of the vehicle, and a radar transceiver configured to examine each of the multiple stations to determine whether that station has an occupant.

A radar sensor system and a method for detecting an occupancy in an interior of a vehicle and with vital sign monitoring. The radar sensor system includes a radar transmitting unit, a radar receiving unit and a signal processing and control unit. The method includes: transmitting a radar wave towards a scene within the vehicle interior, receiving at least one radar wave that has been generated by reflection of the transmitted radar wave, decomposing the received radar wave into range, Doppler and angular information, quantifying and tracking a movement in each region of interest by angular gating and range gating, detecting and monitoring vital signs of occupants in each region of interest, and determining whether quantified and tracked movements in the scene are related to an occupant or to external or internal disturbances, based on a fulfillment of at least one predefined condition concerning the and/or the detected vital signs.