18409 results about "Steering wheel" patented technology

An improved apparatus and method is provided for operating devices and systems in a motor vehicle, while at the same time reducing vehicle operator distractions. One or more touch sensitive pads are mounted on the steering wheel of the motor vehicle, and the vehicle operator touches the pads in a pre-specified synchronized pattern, to perform functions such as controlling operation of the radio or adjusting a window. At least some of the touch patterns used to generate different commands may be selected by the vehicle operator. Usefully, the system of touch pad sensors and the signals generated thereby are integrated with speech recognition and / or facial gesture recognition systems, so that commands may be generated by synchronized multi-mode inputs.

An interactive display system for a vehicle including a heads up display system for projecting text and / or graphics into a field of view of a forward-facing occupant of the vehicle and an occupant-controllable device enabling the occupant to interact with the heads up display system to change the text and / or graphics projected by the heads up display system or direct another vehicular system to perform an operation. The device may be a touch pad arranged on a steering wheel of the vehicle (possibly over a cover of an airbag module in the steering wheel) or at another location accessible to the occupant of the vehicle. A processor and associated electrical architecture are provided for correlating a location on the touch pad which has been touched by the occupant to the projected text and / or graphics. The device may also be a microphone.

A control interface for accessing a plurality of systems of a vehicle, comprising: a first control interface disposed on a surface of a steering wheel; a second control interface disposed on a surface of a steering wheel, the second control interface being positioned remote from the first control interface; a visual display disposed within the vehicle, wherein the first control interface provides access to a vehicle system and the second control interface provides a means for modifying the state of the vehicle system access by the first control interface.

A user interface for a mobile office is provided for allowing simple, safe, and convenient access to electronic mail, calendar, news, and web browser functions. The dialog or number of steps required to access desired items is minimized using a state controller responsive to voice commands and manual activations of reconfigurable steering wheel switches. Someone unfamiliar with the user interface is assisted by prompts for various commands and can use the mobile office without needing to resort to use of the reconfigurable steering wheel control elements. A more experienced user can bypass prompts by interrupting them with voice commands and can quickly move through various steps by utilizing the configurable steering wheel control elements to gain access to individual items within the mail, calendar, and news functions.

An apparatus and method for illuminating a vehicle including a light source connected to an illuminatable component such as an interior or exterior vehicle door handle or steering wheel, and a control system including a plurality of sensors that monitor the vehicle and surroundings for predetermined conditions and selectively illuminate the component as a means of conveying information or warnings about the vehicle or its surroundings. Illumination may be enhanced by other auditory signals such as audio alarms or vibration. Predetermined conditions may include the proximity of a vehicle user, key fob activation or proximity, input from an entertainment system, activation of a pressure sensor, the presence of a person or object in proximity to the vehicle, or the vehicle's ignition or gear state.

A passenger in an automated vehicle may relinquish control of the vehicle to a control computer when the control computer has determined that it may maneuver the vehicle safely to a destination. The passenger may relinquish or regain control of the vehicle by applying different degrees of pressure, for example, on a steering wheel of the vehicle. The control computer may convey status information to a passenger in a variety of ways including by illuminating elements of the vehicle. The color and location of the illumination may indicate the status of the control computer, for example, whether the control computer has been armed, is ready to take control of the vehicle, or is currently controlling the vehicle.

A vigilance monitoring system to determine the alertness of a driver of a vehicle. The system uses one or multiple sensors located at the driver-vehicle interface (steering wheel, accelerator, brakes). The sensor monitors the magnitude and frequency of the force (or displacement) exerted by a driver at the driver interface. A time derivative of the force or displacement profile is created. The variability of the time derivative of the force / displacement data from the general trend of the data as obtained by an optimized moving average of the data. An intelligent control system measures the variability and compares with an alertness rating scale to determine the alertness score of the driver and issue warning signals and actions as appropriate.

A front camera for filming an area stretching forwards is disposed in a front portion of a vehicle. A side camera for filming an area stretching laterally and diagonally forwards is disposed in a lateral-left portion of the vehicle. An indicator display that can be visually recognized by a driver is disposed in a compartment of the vehicle. An amount of change in the direction of the vehicle, that is, a deflection angle of the vehicle is detected on the basis of a vehicle speed and a steering angle of a steering wheel, which have been detected by means of various sensors. After the indicator display has started displaying a lateral photo image filmed by the side camera, the photo image displayed by the indicator display is shifted from the lateral photo image filmed by the side camera to a front photo image filmed by the front camera if the deflection angle has reached a predetermined angle.

A lighting system for a vehicle having luminescent or “glow-in-the-dark” markings placed on an interior surface of the vehicle and a light source located remotely from the markings to illuminate the markings, particularly at night. The markings can be placed on any surface inside a vehicle, such as a gear shift know, door handle or steering column control stalk. Additionally, the light source can be placed in the roof of the vehicle, behind a steering wheel, or any other location having an unobstructed view of the markings.

The system and method of the present invention is directed to emulating and configuring any of a plurality of electronic input devices. A system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention comprises an interface and an emulator. The interface is for selecting and configuring an electronic input device from a plurality of electronic input devices, and the emulator is for emulating the electronic input device. Preferably, the plurality of electronic input devices comprise any two or more of a scroll wheel, a mouse, a joy stick, a steering wheel, an analog button, and a touch bar. Also in a preferred embodiment, the interface is an Application Programming Interface (API) and the emulator comprises a finger swipe sensor for receiving user input.

A passenger in an automated vehicle may relinquish control of the vehicle to a control computer when the control computer has determined that it may maneuver the vehicle safely to a destination. The passenger may relinquish or regain control of the vehicle by applying different degrees of pressure, for example, on a steering wheel of the vehicle. The control computer may convey status information to a passenger in a variety of ways including by illuminating elements of the vehicle. The color and location of the illumination may indicate the status of the control computer, for example, whether the control computer has been armed, is ready to take control of the vehicle, or is currently controlling the vehicle.

A system for and method of illuminating a contact (or touch) device such as a fingerprint sensor are disclosed. In an exemplary system, a touch sensor system has a surface or contact area and comprises a substantially transparent molding positioned over the contact area and a dynamic illuminator positioned to show through the molding. The dynamic illuminator is for indicating a status of the touch sensor system, such as power on, standby, error, low power, an input mode for receiving user input, or a selected operating mode. The touch sensor system includes any one of a fingerprint sensor, a miniature joystick, a touch-sensitive navigation disc, a touch-sensing navigation pad, an N-way pressure-sensitive directional control, to name a few touch sensor devices. In one embodiment, when the touch sensor comprises a fingerprint sensor, the operating mode is for emulating an input device such as a scroll wheel, a push button, a steering wheel, a joy stick, a pressure button, and a mouse. The operating mode also includes an authentication mode for authenticating an identity of a user. Preferably, the dynamic illuminator includes light sources and multiple light channels, colored or not, that are configured to be illuminated in multiple configurations, where each configuration corresponds to a status of the touch sensor system.

Apparatus and method for the early detection of increased performance impairment, incapacitation or drowsiness of a person, particularly of a person gripping an object such as a steering wheel. A wrist band is worn by the person and an electrical sensor is pressed against the person's skin by the band to sense physiological conditions by detecting various parameters at the wrist and analyzing them to provide an indication of the onset of drowsiness in the person. Some of the parameters analyzed include EMG, temperature, response to stimulation and muscular activity at the wrist. A description of a shock-absorbing wrist monitor is disclosed.

A hand pattern switch device recognizes a hand pattern from an image of a hand in an image pickup zone and detects a hand motion. One of controlled objects is selected based on the recognized hand pattern and / or hand motion. In accordance with the selected object, a mode of detection of operation information based on hand motion is changed. In a moved distance detecting mode, a moved distance of the hand in the zone is detected as operation information, and in a stop time detecting mode, a stop time of the hand at a stop position to which the hand has been moved in the zone is detected as operation information. The image pickup zone is at a location which is located laterally to a steering wheel and to which a driver can extend his / her arm without changing a driving posture.

A method and an apparatus to interface multiple peripheral devices to a host computer is provided. An interface control module located in a multi-user computer game arcade system interfaces a host computer via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) to one or more joysticks, steering wheels, trackballs, coin op / bill counters, credit card readers and / or optical guns. A set of connectors allows the game builder or player to interface a variety of input peripherals to the interface control module. The interface control module recognizes the HID type of the input peripheral by the type of the selected connector, and then provides HD reports that describe each input device to the HID compliant software system of the host computer. The interface control module may support 127 HID peripherals. A watchdog function of the interface control module detects host computer malfunctions and crashes, and boots the host computer while retaining coin credit input data received proximate to and during the malfunction and recovery.

Arrangement for obtaining information about objects in an environment around a vehicle, e.g., in blind spots of the driver of the vehicle, including one or more light emitting components arranged on the vehicle for emitting infrared light into the environment around the vehicle and receivers arranged on the vehicle for receiving infrared light from the environment around the vehicle. The information about the objects is obtained based on analysis of the received infrared light by a processor, e.g., the distance between the vehicle and the object, the velocity of the object and the identity of the object. Pattern recognition techniques are preferably used to obtain the desired information. Control of the vehicle can be effected based on the detection of particular objects and their position and velocity, e.g., an audio or visual warning device or a steering wheel control device.

A method of controlling an automotive vehicle having a turning radius includes determining a hand wheel torque and applying brake-steer as a function of hand wheel torque.

A driving simulator. The driving simulator may include a processor; a display connectable to the processor; a plurality of input devices, such as a steering wheel, a brake pedal, and an accelerator pedal, where each of the plurality of input devices is connectable to the processor; and a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium contains instructions for providing a plurality of simulated driving environments, allowing a user to select one of the plurality of simulated driving environments, allowing a user to provide environment settings, allowing a user to select a simulated vehicle to operate, activating hazards, generating a plurality of simulated vehicles, generating a profile for each of the plurality of simulated intelligent vehicles; randomly assigning spawn points to each of the plurality of simulated intelligent vehicles, displaying the simulated driving environment to a user and allowing the user to operate the simulated vehicle in the simulated driving environment using the plurality of input devices, recording the operation of the simulated vehicle through the simulated driving environment, and replaying the operation of the vehicle.

A steering wheel is configured as a dual-state input device configured to operate in two distinct states based on a current driving mode. In a manual driving mode, the input device is configured to control a limited set of vehicle functions and in an autonomous mode the input device is configured to control an expanded set of vehicle functions. The steering wheel includes a wheel rim movably mounted on a steering column and a hub disposed within a center of the wheel rim on the steering column, the main body portion comprising an interactive touch screen disposed on the main body portion. The wheel rim is configured to disengage from the hub and move along the steering column to a retracted position.

An electric power steering apparatus can improve heat dissipation of a power board. A heat sink is mounted on the power board in surface contact therewith, on which power board there is mounted a bridge circuit including a plurality of semiconductor switching elements for switching an electric current supplied to an electric motor in accordance with torque assisting a steering wheel. The heat sink has a plurality of protrusions formed on a surface thereof at a side opposite to the power board.

A vehicle surroundings monitoring apparatus inputs signals indicative of images from a stereoscopic camera, a vehicle speed, a steering wheel angle and a yaw rate and estimates a traveling path of an own vehicle according to vehicle forward information and traveling conditions of the own vehicle. The apparatus establishes a traveling region A according to this traveling path and further establishes a traveling region B based on at least either of the traveling region A and road information. It is judged whether a detected solid object is a preceding vehicle or a tentative preceding vehicle according to the state of existence of the object in the traveling regions A, B and the preceding vehicle is outputted to a traveling control unit.

A heads-up display (HUD) adaptor for use in combination with an existing heads-up display (HUD) unit, wherein the HUD adaptor receives an electronic peripheral device in order to display electronic data and information from the peripheral on the screen of the existing HUD unit on a vehicle's windshield. The HUD adaptor includes a proximal end, a distal end and a cable therebetween; wherein the proximal end has a first adaptor plug; and the distal end has a second adaptor plug. The existing HUD unit includes a heads-up display screen on a front windshield of the vehicle and a heads-up display control unit is positioned within a control panel on a steering wheel of the vehicle for controlling each of the electronic peripherals. The HUD unit includes a USB panel member having a plurality of USB receiving ports for receiving one or more of the HUD adaptors therein. The first adaptor plug of the HUD adaptor is received within a receiving port of an electronic communication device; and the second adaptor plug of the HUD adaptor is received within one of the plurality of the USB receiving ports of the USB panel member for electronically connecting the HUD adaptor to the HUD control unit.

A vehicle state information transmission apparatus includes a warning device for issuing a warning to the driver based on information pertaining to a vehicle state detected by a vehicle state detecting device, and a vehicle state information transmission device for transmitting the information pertaining to the vehicle state detected by the vehicle state detecting device to the driver. The vehicle state information transmission device includes a tactile device, which transmits a change in the vehicle state via a vehicle operating device such as steering wheel to the driver as tactile information. The tactile device is operable in conjunction with the warning means.

A system and method for determining whether a vehicle driver is holding a steering wheel of the vehicle while the vehicle is in an autonomous driving mode. The vehicle will include an electric power steering (EPS) system and may include an active front steering (AFS) system, both of which include a motor that can apply a high frequency and low amplitude perturbation signal to the steering wheel of the vehicle that is not felt by the vehicle driver and does not cause the vehicle to turn, but is able to be detected by a steering angle sensor. The method subtracts a steering angle command signal from the steering angle signal and removes road disturbances, and then determines whether the induced perturbation signal is present in the steering angle sensor signal. If the perturbation signal is present, then the system knows that the vehicle driver is not holding the steering wheel.

The present invention provides a safety control system for a vehicle with controls located on the vehicle steering wheel. The controls may be arranged in a cluster on one or both sides of the upper half of the steering wheel or on a special flange mounted to the steering wheel. The contours are easily recognizable and accessible while driving without any distraction to the driver. The controls can be enhanced by varied coloring, shape, size, and texture to make them easily identifiable. The controls can be used with portable telematics devices, in a multi-modal process in conjunction with thumb gesture interpretation or speech recognition. A universal portable device docking station may be used in conjunction with the control system.

The auxiliary safety operation equipment based on omnibearing computer vision includes an omnibearing vision sensor for acquiring omnibearing video information outside and inside the vehicle, and an auxiliary safety operation controller for detecting fatigue operation and warning on fatigue operation. The omnibearing vision sensor installed in the right of the driver's seat and connected to the auxiliary safety operation controller detects the facial state, eye state and mouth state of the driver and the steering wheel state, monitors the vehicle direction, speed, etc, and warns the fatigue operation in case of detecting fatigue operation state. The present invention detects the characteristic parameter of fatigue operation state, and has high judgment precision and high measurement precision.

A system and method of the present invention emulates electronic input devices such as a steering wheel, a mouse, a joystick, a navigation bar, a scroll wheel, and a pressure-sensitive button. The method comprises swiping a finger on a swipe sensor, calculating a difference between a first position of the finger on the swipe sensor and a second position on the swipe sensor, and translating the difference into a plurality of sets of signals. Each set of signals is used to emulate the signals generated by one of the electronic input devices. The method thus uses a single swipe sensor to emulate multiple electronic input devices. In a preferred embodiment, the system is used to control a display on a portable electronic device is coupled to or forms part of the portable electronic device.

Reverse proximity sensors are used to determine an angle between a towed trailer and the towing vehicle. The trailer sway control determines a trailer angle of sway based upon proximity sensor readings from the reverse proximity sensors and from a sensor reading of an angle of turn of a steering wheel of the towing vehicle. Provided the determined trailer angle of sway exceeds a range that can be tolerated, a controller sends instructions to apply necessary braking to the vehicle or trailer to mitigate the trailer sway.