An electronic throttle control pedal assembly includes a housing having a friction generating surface, a pedal arm, a spring carrier, and at least one spring. The pedal arm includes a hub portion and a friction generating member. The friction generating member has a lobe connected to a cross member and is positioned on a side surface of the hub portion. The cross member extends within the hub portion. The spring carrier has a friction generating portion. As the pedal arm is depressed, a portion of the spring carrier engages the friction generating portion against the cross member positioned within the hub aperture and pivotally engages a portion of the lobe of the friction generating member against the friction generating surface of the housing thereby creating at least two independent friction generating surfaces to create a hysteresis proportional to the depression of the pedal arm.

Proposed is system and method for determining a driver's fatigue to promote safe driving by determining the driver's fatigue according to a change in a brain wave of a driver during driving of a vehicle.

A vehicle control device includes a depression amount detection unit, a depression speed detection unit, a reaction force setting unit, and a reaction force generation unit. The reaction force setting unit sets a value of a reaction force in a manner of separating characteristics into advancement characteristics and return characteristics. The reaction force setting unit sets a value of a reaction force with respect to a depression amount in such a way that, in main advancement characteristics except for both ranges corresponding to start of depressing and end of depressing among advancement characteristics, a degree of increase of a value of a reaction force relatively decreases, as a depression amount increases until a predetermined ratio with respect to a maximum depression amount of an accelerator pedal reaches, and a degree of increase of a value of a reaction force relatively increases, as a depression amount increases after the predetermined ratio reaches; and sets a value of the reaction force in such a way that a value of the reaction force decreases, as a depression amount decreases.

A foldable electronic pedal apparatus is proposed. The foldable electronic pedal apparatus has both a foldable function that can pop up and hide the pedal and an electronic pedal function, and can tune necessary pedal effort, stroke, and hysteresis that are different for every kind of vehicle by having a high-load spring module and a hysteresis lever.

An organ-type electronic pedal device includes a high-load spring module and a hysteresis lever. If necessary, the organ-type pedal device enables different pedal efforts, strokes, and hysteresis operating forces to be tuned as required for individual vehicle models by changing the parts of the hysteresis lever.

An accelerator device includes a pad configured to receive an input force from a driver, a case attachable to a vehicle body and having a front wall facing the pad, and an internal movable mechanism housed in the case. The internal movable mechanism includes a shaft that is rotatably supported in the case and a pedal extending outward from an outer peripheral portion of the shaft. An arm is arranged to pass through an opening provided in the front wall and to connect the pad and the pedal, and a cushioning member is provided in the front wall, to be inserted between the pedal or the arm and the front wall in an accelerator fully-closed state, and to be inserted between the pad and the front wall in an accelerator fully-open state.

The embodiments described herein concern a reconfigurable throttle-by-wire pedal subsystem for a vehicle and associated methods. One embodiment detects a pedal error in which a driver of the vehicle mistakenly actuates an accelerator foot pedal unit of the vehicle instead of a separate brake pedal of the vehicle, the accelerator foot pedal unit controlling a throttle of the vehicle, and performs the following in response to the detected pedal error: reconfiguring the accelerator foot pedal unit to control a braking subsystem of the vehicle instead of the throttle and reconfiguring a haptic feedback of the accelerator foot pedal unit from a throttle-by-wire mode to a brake-by-wire mode.

Provided is a damper capable of damping a moving member which reciprocates along an axis, using a damping force having a hysteresis property. A damper includes a cylindrical housing into which a push rod is to be inserted in the direction of an axis thereof, and a damping mechanism placed in the housing and capable of damping the push rod by a damping force having a hysteresis property, wherein the damper is to be attached using a master cylinder mount space of a clutch pedal unit. In the damping mechanism of the damper, engagement between a helical cam groove formed in an inner wall of the housing and a guide protrusion formed on an outer circumference of a rotatable friction disk causes reciprocating linear motion of the push rod to be converted into rotating motion of the rotatable friction disk, and other friction disks, placed on both sides of the rotatable friction disk are pressed against respective sliding surfaces, of the rotating friction disk by an elastic force of a coil spring depending on an amount of displacement of the push rod.

Systems and device configurations are provided for reducing misstep, such as miscommunication between a vehicle and a driver that results in applying the incorrect pedal. Vehicle pedal configurations having a positioning element are described. Embodiments include pedal configurations having a pedal pad and at least one positioning element to adjust the pedal pad in response to pedal misstep. Pedal adjustment can include rotation of a pedal pad, rotation of portions of a pedal pad, and multibody pedal pad configurations. According to embodiment, a pedal pad includes vibrational elements to control vibration of the pedal. Embodiments are also directed to a pedal configuration including a flip plate. Systems are provided including a controller to control a pedal configuration and positioning elements. The controller may control the pedal based on a driving mode, such as an assistive driving state wherein operator is instructed to apply a pedal.

A driving assistance control device includes an active pedal configured to control a driving and braking force of a vehicle, an electronic control unit configured to detect a potential risk area in which an obstacle entering a scheduled traveling route of the vehicle is likely to be present, and determine a reference speed at which contact between the vehicle and the obstacle can be avoided even when the obstacle enters the scheduled traveling route of the vehicle from the detected potential risk area based on a positional relationship between the vehicle and the potential risk area, and a force feedback unit configured to apply an assistance reaction force in a direction in which the amount of manipulation is reduced, to the active pedal when a current speed of the vehicle exceeds the reference speed.