An illustrative device capable of detecting a bearing force includes a support rigid by tension and at least one plate that is elastically deformable by the bearing force from a bent conformation in which the plate exhibits a convex bearing face on which the bearing force to be detected is directly exerted and to a more flattened conformation in which the convex bearing face is more flattened. The illustrative device further includes a spring capable of permanently straining the plate to its bent conformation, a guiding mechanism mounted on the support and capable of guiding the free distal end of the plate in translation along a translation axis at right angles to the direction of indentation, and a sensor capable of detecting a displacement of the free distal end along the translation axis to detect the bearing force.

A directional force sensor and sensing system are described. The directional force sensor includes a leaf spring and one or more load sensors disposed about the leaf spring such that in response to a force applied to the leaf spring, the one or more load sensors provide a signal. A controller is coupled to receive signals from the one or more directional force sensors and determines characteristics of forces applied to the directional force sensors.

An accident determination system that determines an occurrence of an accident in a straddle-type vehicle, includes a stop detection unit, an end operation unit and a weight detection unit, a control unit. The stop detection unit detects a vehicle stop of the straddle-type vehicle. The end operation unit receives a driving end operation performed by an occupant. The weight detection unit detects a weight value according to a posture of the occupant. The control unit determines whether the vehicle stop is caused by dismounting based on a detection result of the stop detection unit and an operation result of the end operation unit, and determines an occurrence of an accident based on a detection result of the weight detection unit during the vehicle stop caused by a reason other than dismounting.

A system for handling a lost item in an autonomous vehicle and a server. The vehicle includes a vision sensor configured to respectively capture a first vehicle interior image and a second vehicle interior image when a passenger boards and alights from the vehicle. The vehicle is configured to transmit the captured first vehicle interior image and second vehicle interior image to the server. The server is configured to compare the first vehicle interior image with the second vehicle interior image and transmit lost item information to the passenger when the lost item in the vehicle is sensed.

Aspects of the present disclosure include a vehicle having a passenger assistance system for facilitating ingress and egress of passengers. The vehicle may include a plurality of wheels. The vehicle may include a body including at least one doorway supported on the plurality of wheels via a suspension. The vehicle may include a door movable between an open position and a closed position covering the at least one doorway. The vehicle may include a first platform movable between a horizontal position beneath a bottom of the doorway and a stowed position parallel to the door. The vehicle may include an occupant compartment within the body. The occupant compartment may include a seat rotatable to face the doorway in an ingress or egress mode. The occupant compartment may include a robotic arm configured to extend along an ingress or egress path through the doorway.

A vehicle proposed herein includes a swivel, a lock mechanism selectively locking and unlocking the swivel, a seat mounted on the swivel, a plurality of surface pressure sensors each disposed along an outer surface of the seat and detecting a pressure distribution within a predetermined area of the outer surface, and a controller configured to cause the lock mechanism to be unlocked based on a change in pressure distribution or a surface pressure that is detected by any of the plurality of surface pressure sensors.

A cargo alerting system that is self-arming. Placing a child in a car seat having sensors arms the system. A keyfob, or smartphone, which is carried by the user, outputs an alarm when the keyfob is moved farther than a pre-determined distance from the base, which may be in the car seat, or otherwise connected to a child in the vehicle. This preset distance could be any desired distance. The keyfob and alarm refocus the user's attention on the cargo within the vehicle.

An example method is disclosed, the method comprising: (i) detecting, via a first sensor of an alert system configured for use with a vehicle, a living being inside the vehicle; (ii) measuring, via a second sensor, an environmental feature inside the vehicle; (iii) based at least on the detection of the living being and the measured environmental feature, determining, an alert condition inside the vehicle; (iv) selecting a first computational action based at least on the determined alert condition; (v) transmitting an instruction that causes a component of the vehicle to perform the selected first computational action; (vi) selecting a second computational action based at least on the determined alert condition; and (vii) transmitting, via a network interface, to at least one computing device that is remote from the alert system, an instruction that causes at least one remote computing device to perform the selected second computational action.

A weight management system for managing vehicle seat occupant body weight by using vehicle cameras and weight sensors of a plurality of vehicles having onboard communication modules. Each vehicle is equipped to analyze and compare weight changes of the vehicle seat occupant over time. Based on the weight status, a weight management recommendation can be transmitted to the vehicle seat occupant. Each vehicle is operatively connected to a weight management application in a data center. The weight management application includes a registration module which registers each vehicle. Additionally, a vehicle seat occupant may register with the weight management application to have his/her weight analyzed when travelling in any of the plurality of vehicles. The weight management application requests a search of a data lake and analysis of search results by a weight data artificial intelligence analytics program to improve the weight management recommendation.

A method for monitoring the interior of a vehicle including emitting electromagnetic waves of at least one frequency or at least one frequency band towards at least one seat arranged in the interior of the vehicle by means of an electromagnetic radiator, receiving reflected electromagnetic waves by means of a sensor, detecting a living object on the seat from the received reflected electromagnetic waves by means of a detection device, determining a volume of the detected object from the received reflected electromagnetic waves by means of the detection device, determining a weight characteristic of the detected object on the basis of the determined volume of the object by means of the detection device, outputting a detection signal representing the weight characteristic by way of the detection device, and actuating a safety system to make the interior safe in accordance with the detection signal.