Nissan Motor Company Limited

Sony Corporation

Kenji Takano

Hiroshi Ueno

Hiroshi Tsuda

Toshiyuki Itoh

An apparatus connection interface remarkably reduces the processing load of the controller. The apparatus connection interface includes a pair of connectors including a first connector and a second connector having respective signal transmission terminals for connecting a plurality of apparatus to be controlled in series to form an annular signal transmission line so as to circulate and transmit a condition confirming signal for confirming the condition of the apparatus to be controlled and, at the same time, circulate and transmit a condition notifying signal for notifying the condition of the individual apparatus to be controlled by way of the formed signal transmission line.

Apparatus connection interface, apparatus control system and method of controlling apparatus control system

A system for measuring a traveling direction of a vehicle includes a geomagnetic sensor and a gyro sensor. The system utilizes first and second indicies for deriving the vehicle traveling direction. The first index is indicative of disturbance of a geomagnetic field on a short interval basis, and the second index is indicative of disturbance of the geomagnetic field on a long interval basis. The system further utilizes a correction value indicative of a drift error caused by the gyro sensor for deriving the vehicle traveling direction. The system varies a rate of dependence upon an output of the geomagnetic sensor and an output of the gyro sensor based on the first and second indicies and the correction value when calculating the vehicle traveling direction.

Vehicular traveling direction measuring system

A system measures a traveling direction of a vehicle based on a direction toward a coordinate position defined by output data from a geomagnetic direction sensor from a first center coordinate position of a corresponding output circle. The system derives a second center coordinate position based on the output data from the geomagnetic direction sensor. The system utilizes a first group of the second center coordinate positions and a second group of the second center coordinate positions. When it is decided that the first center coordinate position is shifted, then a new or corrected center coordinate position is derived based on the first group of the second center coordinate positions, on the other hand, when it is decided that no shift of the first center coordinate position is generated, then the corrected center coordinate positiion is derived based on the second group of the second center coordinate positions.

Vehicular traveling direction measuring system with automatic center

A ststem measures a traveling direction of a vehicle based on a direction toward a coordinate position defined by output data from a geomagnetic direction sensor from a first coordinate position of a center of a corresponding output circle. The system utilizes a preliminary coordinate position as a preliminary corrected value of the first center coordinate position and a correction value indicative of reliability of the preliminary center coordinate position for deriving a finally corrected value of the first center coordinate position. The reliability of the preliminary center coordinate position is derived from previously stored data in terms of a derived variation in a vehicular traveling direction. The system derives the finally corrected value of the first center coordinate position based on the preliminary center coordinate position and the correction value such that the finally corrected value is derived closer to the preliminary center coordinate position when the correction value is derived larger.

An apparatus and method for measuring a forward direction of a vehicle in which to derive a coordinate position of a center (O.sub.x, O.sub.y) of a directional circle derived from an output of a geomagnetic direction sensor after a magnetization on a vehicle body occurs, the magnetization on the vehicle body is determined from the output of the geomagnetic direction sensor installed in the vehicle and each parameter of a peak quantity (X.sub.max, Y.sub.max), peak direction (D.sub.x, D.sub.y), and a center value of an output circle before the present disturbance occurs is calculated, optimum coefficients are selected and set according to each parameter from among the previously derived coefficients, a magnetization quantity is calculated from each parameter and each optimum coefficient using a linear combination technique, and the coordinate position of the center of the output circle after the magnetization on the vehicle body occurs from the derived magnetization quantity.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Kenji Takano