Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Ford Motor Company Limited

Other

Stuart C Salter

Paul Kenneth Dellock

David Brian Glickman

Pietro Buttolo

James J Surman

Annette Lynn Huebner

Cornel Lewis Gardner

John Robert Van Wiemeersch

Aaron Bradley Johnson

Brendan F Diamond

Hussein H Berry

Michael Musleh

James Stewart Rankin, Ii

Kristopher Karl Brown

Stephen Kenneth Helwig

Ryan J O'Gorman

Talat Karmo

Jeffrey Singer

Harry Lobo

Katherine Howard-Cone

Peter Phung

Richard Gall

Zeljko Deljevic

Kristin Ann Hellman

Chester Stanislaus Walawender

Keith Weston

David Celinske

Scott Holmes Dunham

Satyanarayana Raju Vemulapati

Venkatesh Krishnan

Mahendra Somasara Dassanayake

Erick Michael Lavoie

Michael John Harmon

Gary Steven Strumolo

Ross Dykstra Pursifull

Benjamin Yilma

Ryan Welch

Ryan Edwin Hanson

Joshua R Wheeler

Michael James Whitens

Johnathan Andrew Line

Kosta Papanikolaou

Wei Xu

Linsheng Chen

Hanyang B Chen

Vivekanandh Elangovan

Bhavani Thota

Michael Musa Azzouz

Jesse R Diephuis

Sean Bayle West

Matthew B Rutman

Thomas Joseph Hermann

Robert J Gelardi

Aaron Peter Klop

Michael Irby

Michael Alan Mcnees

Gregory Paul Thomas

Chi Li

Mahmoud Yousef Ghannam

Ali Hassani

Kevin Wayne Preuss

Manfred Koberstein

William David Treharne

Adrian Nania

Linh Ngoc Doan

Brian Joseph Robert

Gary D Mullen

Darrel Alan Recker

John Shutko

Howard Paul Tsvi Linden

Patrick Kevin Holub

Hussain Zoher Tajmahal

John Anthony DeMarco

Michael Hrecznyj

Richard William Kautz

Michael Lozano

Mandeep Singh Sidhu

Alan George Dry

Brian Bennie

Daniel Ferretti

Larry Dean Elie

Hamid M Golgiri

Joshua Robert Hemphill

Yifan Chen

Andrew D Niedert

Segundo Baldovino

Steven Yellin Schondorf

Andrew Denis Lewandowski

Eric L Reed

Adil Nizam Siddiqui

David James Tippy

Jayanthi Rao

Jordan Barrett

Michael Steven Medoro

Kevin Thomas Hille

Arun Kumar

Jeroen Lem

Scott Culver Anderson

Peter Simeon Lazarevski

Ryan A Olsson

A vehicle including a sensor unit, an exterior light and a processor is disclosed. The sensor unit may capture inputs associated with vehicle surroundings. The processor may determine that a user may be performing an activity in proximity to the exterior light based on the inputs obtained from the sensor unit. The processor may also determine an activity type based on the inputs responsive to determining that the user is performing the activity. The processor may further determine an optimal lighting intensity for the exterior light based on the activity type. The processor may then illuminate the exterior light at the optimal lighting intensity.

Systems and methods to control operation of vehicle exterior lights based on user activity

A vehicle sharing system includes a vehicle having interior transceiver modules associated with different passenger seating areas and a vehicle computing system (VCS) including a processor and a memory in communication with the modules and programmed to detect occupancy status of each seating area based on signals from the modules and to communicate the occupancy statuses to a remote server to facilitate scheduling of ride-sharing passengers for a specified seating area of the vehicle. The reserved seating location may be used to align the seating location/door with a passenger during pick-up, adjust vehicle accessory settings associated with the reserved seating location, and activate a visual indicator to direct the passenger to the assigned/reserved seating location.

Vehicle ride sharing system and method using smart modules

A cargo floor for a vehicle, the cargo floor including a body and a guiderail coupled with an underside of the body. The cargo floor including a puck coupled with the underside of the body, wherein the at least one puck slidably engages an interior surface of a cargo space. The cargo floor including a cleat defining a lens-shaped profile, the cleat coupled with underside of the body. The cargo floor including a track coupled with the interior surface of the cargo space and aligned with the guiderail. The cleat is slidably coupled with the track, and the body is positioned between a disposed position and an extended position. The cargo floor further includes an actuator coupled with the underside of the body. The actuator locks and unlocks the guiderail and the track.

Cargo floor

A vehicle is described. The vehicle may include a vehicle sensor configured to detect cart location, and a lifting mechanism disposed at a vehicle sidewall. The lifting mechanism is configured to lift and secure a cart on a target location on the vehicle sidewall. The vehicle may further include a memory and a processor. The processor is configured to obtain the cart location from the vehicle sensor, determine that the cart is aligned with the target location. Responsive to a determination that the cart is aligned, the processor is configured to transmit a command signal to the lifting mechanism to lift and secure the cart on the target location.

Last mile delivery system

Responsive to indication a user of a vehicle has provided input to an interface of the vehicle, electrical connections between a power distribution center and components of an electrical system of the vehicle are disconnected except an electrical connection between the power distribution center and an auxiliary battery of the electrical system.

Automatic reset of vehicle modules

Systems, apparatus, articles of manufacture, and methods are disclosed to remove a steering wheel of a vehicle. As disclosed herein, a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed, cause processor circuitry of a vehicle to: detect a request to remove a steering wheel from a steering system of a vehicle; verify a user identity based on a user profile, the user profile stored in a memory associated with the vehicle; determine whether a disengagement criterion is satisfied; and after the user identity is detected and the disengagement criterion is satisfied, disengage a lock to enable removal of the steering wheel from the steering system of the vehicle.

Removable steering wheels of vehicles and related methods

A server includes an interface configured to communicate with a vehicle and a charger, and a processor configured to responsive to receiving, from the vehicle, vehicle data indicative of an energy transfer amount from the vehicle to one or more receiving entities above a transfer threshold, impose a limitation on the charger to charge the vehicle by sending a message to the charger.

Electric vehicle energy management system

Remote power supply systems are disclosed for use on motor vehicles The remote power supply systems may power auxiliary devices separate from the vehicle. Exemplary remote power supply systems may include one or more removable power outlet boxes that include electrical power outlets for connecting the auxiliary devices. The electrical power outlets may be powered by a generator system of the vehicle. The removable power outlet box may be removed from the vehicle for repositioning the electrical power outlets at a distance away from the vehicle. A control module may command the vehicle to move toward the removable power outlet box when the box is removed from the vehicle and a predefined length of a cord has been unwound from a reel of the removable power outlet box.

Motor vehicle remote power systems with removable power outlet boxes

A vehicle is configured to be connected to a trailer. The vehicle is configured to detect connections of the trailer to utility infrastructure. Movement of the vehicle is moderated if physical utility connections are present.

Pre-departure trailer based attachment detection system

A security token for accessing an automotive vehicle, such as an NFC access card or NFC-capable mobile phone, is monitored to help prevent it being left in the vehicle when the user exits the vehicle. An NFC reader in the passenger compartment communicates with the token to authorize access to predetermined functions of the vehicle. An image sensor captures images within the passenger compartment using an image sensor after the security token is presented to the NFC reader. A location of the token is tracked in the captured images. One or more predetermined carrier locations are identified which are associated with the user and which can remain with the user when the user exits the vehicle (e.g., a pocket or purse). A message to the user is generated as a reminder when the security token has not been detected to have been returned to an identified predetermined carrier location.

Security card tracking and advisory system for motor vehicle

A first vehicle configured to jump start a second vehicle is disclosed. The first vehicle may include a first energy storage system, a second energy storage system, and a converter. The first vehicle may further include a switch between the second energy storage system and the converter, and a control unit. The control unit may obtain a user request to activate a jump start mode of the first vehicle, deactivate a vehicle load in the first vehicle, and cause the switch to operate in the ON state. The control unit may further cause the second energy storage system to supply a first amount of current to pre-charge a battery of the second vehicle for a predefined time duration, and cause the second energy storage system to supply a second amount of current to the battery to start a second vehicle ignition system when the battery is pre-charged.

Systems and methods for jump starting vehicles

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is disclosed. The UAV may include a UAV transceiver configured to receive course information associated with a course. The UAV may further include a UAV processor that may be configured to obtain the course information from the UAV transceiver. Responsive to obtaining the course information, the UAV processor may determine a UAV position in the course, and identify a course marker, from a plurality of course markers, in proximity to the UAV position based on the course information. The UAV processor may then determine navigation instructions associated with the course marker for a vehicle to navigate the course based on the course information. The UAV may be configured to move in proximity to a vehicle front portion and display the navigation instructions.

Unmanned aerial vehicle for course marking

A vehicle assembly according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, a cargo bed of a vehicle and a crossbar spanning the cargo bed. The crossbar is slidable relative to the cargo bed. A lift assist device is mounted to the crossbar. The assembly can include a passenger side rail mounted to a passenger side wall assembly of the cargo bed, and a driver side rail mounted to a driver side wall assembly of the cargo bed. The crossbar can be slidably coupled to both the driver side rail and the passenger side rail.

Vehicle assembly having cross-bar mounted lift assist device and operating method

A motor vehicle electrical distribution system includes an upfitter power supply subsystem with overcurrent protection for tripping (opening) a solid-state relay when current drawn from a main electrical source by the upfitter subsystem impacts other priority electrical loads of the vehicle. Warnings/alerts are generated to inform the user (e.g., driver) of the tripping events, which may include real-time graphing of a recent history of events. In order to restore power to the upfitter subsystem, a voltage supplied by a supplemental battery (i.e., vehicle start-up battery) to the upfitter subsystem is monitored. If the voltage stabilizes then a voltage from the main electrical source is intentionally dropped to the stabilized value and the solid-state relay is re-closed. Then the main voltage is ramped back up to its nominal value. An automatic reset time may be added to delay the reclosing if the solid-state relay has been operated excessively.

Vehicular electrical system sharing primary power with upfit equipment

A system comprises a computer having a processor and a memory. The memory stores instructions executable by the processor to determine a wakeup time for an occupant of a vehicle based on a destination and an object in an interior of the vehicle, and actuate a vehicle component to awaken the occupant.

Vehicle HMI actuation

Growing community of inventors

White Lake, MI, United States of America

Stuart C Salter