Disclosed are a seat belt wireless communication system and method. The seat belt wireless communication system includes sensing units provided in respective seats and configured to sense whether or not to fasten seat belts, sub-ECUs provided in the respective seats and configured to transmit signals indicating whether or not to fasten the seat belts, sensed by the sensing units, through wireless communication, and a main ECU provided in a vehicle and configured to perform wireless communication with the respective sub-ECUs, to wake up the sub-ECUs through wireless communication, to determine whether or not to fasten the seat belts of the respective seats by receiving the signals from the sub-ECUs after wake-up of the sub-ECUs, and to determine, when the main ECU does not receive a corresponding one of the signals from at least one of the sub-ECUs B, that the corresponding sub-ECU has failed.

The techniques of this disclosure relate to a vehicle occupancy-monitoring system. The system includes a controller circuit that receives occupant data from an occupancy-monitoring sensor of a vehicle. The controller circuit determines an occupancy status of respective seats in a cabin of the vehicle based on the occupancy-monitoring sensor. The controller circuit indicates the occupancy status of the respective seats on a display located in a field of view of occupants of the vehicle. The display is integral to one of a roof light module, a door panel, or a headliner of the cabin. The system can improve passenger safety by alerting the operator and other occupants about the occupancy status of the passengers.

Locating systems and methods for wireless seat belt monitoring in vehicles with removable or reconfigurable seats are provided herein. An example remote transceiver can be centrally located on a seat that is configured to be rearranged within a vehicle. The remote transceiver can include a processor and memory for storing instructions that include a unique code identifying the remote transceiver. The processor executes the instructions to receive low power signals from transmitters within an interior of the vehicle, determine received signal strength values of the low power signals. The received signal strength values are used by the vehicle receiver to determine a location of the remote transceiver within the vehicle.

A system for managing a seat occupancy status by a passenger and a control method of the system includes a seat belt sensor provided for each seat to detect a fastening or unfastening of the seat belt, a pressure detection unit provided for each seat to detect occupancy or non-occupancy of a seat by a passenger and pressure of the seated passenger, a secondary control unit provided for each seat and woken up by radio communication with a vehicle to alert to an unfastened state of the seat belt when the seat belt is unfastened upon determining, by a seat belt sensor, whether the seat belt is fastened, and a primary control unit provided in the vehicle to perform radio communications with each secondary control unit and check an abnormality based on reception or non-reception of the system data transmitted from the secondary control unit.

A vehicle safety system comprising a series of lights. One set of lights in a prominent turn indicator device indicates to the driver in a more prominent way whether the driver has indicated a turn. The turn indicator lights are either heads-up on a windshield, visible to the driver atop the dashboard or on an interior vehicle pillar, and away from vehicle instrument clusters. Another set of lights on a seatbelt compliance light device indicate to motorists external to the vehicle whether one or more occupants of a vehicle is in seatbelt. Each light system can be used to improve both the safety of the driver, pedestrians, surrounding vehicles, and vehicle occupants.

The methods and systems herein enable relative movement-based seatbelt use detection. Image data of an occupant of a vehicle is received over time. The image data is then input into a machine-learned model or other module that determines whether relative movement between one or more portions of the occupant and corresponding portions of a seatbelt are less than a threshold amount. If the relative movement is less than the threshold amount, an indication of seatbelt misuse (e.g., a fake seatbelt) is output to a vehicle component. By basing the indication of seatbelt misuse on relative movement between the occupant and the seatbelt, seatbelt use detection may be improved.

A vehicle occupant messaging system includes a communication tag located in a buckle of a vehicle seatbelt assembly and configured to wirelessly transmit signals, to a mobile device, representing a location of a passenger using the mobile device in a host vehicle. The system further includes a communication transceiver programmed to transmit messages to the mobile device and a system processor programmed to generate the messages to the mobile device, the messages identifying the location of the passenger.

The invention relates to a safety belt, which is in particular intended to be installed in an aircraft seat, comprising: a closing loop comprising a male element and a female element, a first strap which is connected to the male element and a second strap which is connected to the female element, the first strap and the second strap being capable of being attached together by means of the closing loop, which can change from an open state to a closed state through cooperation between the male element and the female element, the safety belt further comprising: a system for detecting that the safety belt is in the closed stated, the system being capable of generating an information item relating to a closed state of the safety belt, and a system for detecting that the safety belt is in a mechanically tensioned state, said system being capable of generating an information item relating to a mechanically tensioned state of at least one strap of the safety belt.

An apparatus for calming a baby in an interior of a vehicle has a heartbeat sensor device (11, 12, 13) configured to capture a heartbeat input signal that depends on the heartbeat of an occupant in an interior (18) of a vehicle (10). A heartbeat signal processing device (14) is configured to produce a heartbeat output signal that depends on the heartbeat input signal. A calming signal output device (15, 16, 17) is configured to output a calming signal that depends on the heartbeat output signal and that is perceivable by a baby in the interior (19) of the vehicle (10). The apparatus is to configured to output the calming signal, at least intermittently, directly during the capture of the heartbeat input signal.

A backseat child occupancy safety alert system. More specifically, the invention relates to a system that can be used in any vehicle and includes a plurality of sensors that cover the seat belt buckles of a vehicle to detect the motion of the seat belt buckle within the seat belt housing. Each sensor is in electrical communication and powered by a tether that allows one sensor to communicate to the other or a display via a flashing LED screen and audible tone if a child is still buckled into the rear vehicle seat after a user attempts to exit the vehicle via the driver's seat. The system is powered continuously by a USB or other power outlet in the vehicle. A kit for retrofitting a vehicle with the system and method of installing the system are also provided.