Abstract: Examples of techniques for vehicle suspension system alignment monitoring are disclosed. In one example implementation, a method includes receiving vehicle data and environmental data including, inertial measurement unit (IMU) acceleration data and global positioning system (GPS) velocity data from a GPS associated with the vehicle, and steering wheel angle data, driver applied torque data, and electronic power steering (EPS) applied torque data associated with the steering system. The method further includes mitigating for at least one of a vehicle effect and an environmental effect based on the vehicle data and environmental data. The method further includes detecting a misalignment based at least in part on one or more of the IMU acceleration data, the GPS velocity data, acceleration data, a steering wheel angle, and a self-aligning torque. The method further includes reporting the misalignment of the vehicle based at least in part on detecting the misalignment.

Abstract: A method of laser welding a workpiece stack-up that includes two or three overlapping aluminum alloy workpieces involves constraining a free end of an overlapping portion of a first aluminum alloy workpiece against movement away from an underlying second aluminum alloy workpiece to counteract the thermally-induced forces that cause out-of-plane deformation of one or more of the aluminum alloy workpieces during laser welding. Such constraint of the free end of the first aluminum alloy workpiece may be accomplished by clamping, spot welding, or any other suitable practice. By constraining the free end of the first aluminum alloy workpiece, and thus inhibiting out-of-plane deformation of the aluminum alloy workpieces when laser welding is practiced in a nearby welding region, the occurrence of hot cracking is minimized or altogether eliminated in the final laser weld joint.

Abstract: Systems, Methods and Apparatuses are provided for detecting surface conditions, which includes: an image scene captured by a camera wherein the image scene includes: a set of a plurality of regions of interest (ROIs); and a processor configured to receive the image scene to: extract at least a first and a second ROI from the set of the plurality of ROIs of the image scene; associate the first ROI with an above-horizon region and associate the second ROI with a surface region; analyze the first ROI and the second ROI in parallel for a condition related to an ambient lighting in the first ROI and for an effect related to the ambient lighting in the second ROI; and extract from the first ROI features of the condition of the ambient lighting and extract from the second ROI features of the effect of the ambient lighting on a surface region.

Abstract: A thermally-stable composite separator for an electrochemical cell that cycles lithium ions is provided, along with methods of making the composite separator. The method includes contacting one or more surface regions of a coated substrate with a coagulant. The coated substrate includes an insulating porous substrate and at least one non-porous polymeric layer including a polymer, one or more nanoparticles, one or more sub-micron particles, and a solvent. Contacting the coated substrate with the coagulant medium removes the solvent causing the polymer to precipitate forming at least one substantially uniform porous polymer layer in place of the at least one non-porous polymeric layer. The coagulant medium has a viscosity greater than that of the solvent and a solubility parameter distance between the polymer and the coagulant medium is less than that between the polymer and water.

Abstract: Systems and method are provided for controlling a vehicle.

Abstract: A method of resistance spot welding workpiece stack-ups of different combinations of metal workpieces with a single weld gun using the same set of welding electrodes is disclosed. In this method, a set of opposed welding electrodes that include an original shape and oxide-disrupting structural features are used to resistance spot weld at least two of the following types of workpiece stack-ups in a particular sequence: (1) a workpiece stack-up of two or more aluminum workpieces; (2) a workpiece stack-up that includes an aluminum workpiece and an adjacent steel workpiece; and (3) a workpiece stack-up of two or more steel workpieces. The spot welding sequence calls for completing all of the aluminum-to-aluminum spot welds and/or all of the steel-to-steel spot welds last.

Abstract: The present application generally relates to methods and apparatus for evaluating and assigning a performance metric to a driver response to a driving scenario. More specifically, the application teaches a method and apparatus for breaking a scenario into features, assigning each feature a grade and generating an overall grade in response to a weighted combination of the grades.

Abstract: A radar system and method of extending a parameter of a location of a target obtained by radar is disclosed. The system receives an echo signal that is a reflection of a radar source signal from the target. The echo signal is sampled and a peak for the echo signal is objected in frequency space. For a peak that is located at a frequency greater than a Nyquist frequency of the echo signal, the peak is moved to a negative domain of the frequency space and the location of the target is determined using the peak in the negative domain.

Abstract: Technical solutions are described for maneuvering a vehicle autonomously is described. An example method includes receiving, by a controller, a command to navigate the vehicle, the command based on a global route calculation. The method further includes ranking, by the controller, maneuver patterns from a list of maneuver patterns to generate a ranked list of maneuver patterns. The method further includes selecting a maneuver pattern from the ranked list, and in response to a comfort score assigned to the selected maneuver pattern being above a predetermined threshold, executing the maneuver pattern.

Abstract: A system and method are provided for operating a powertrain control system. The method includes receiving data measured from a plurality of sensors, the measured data relating to distance dependent speed values, and receiving information from one or more vehicle modules, the vehicle module information relating to distance independent speed values. The method further includes building a speed trajectory profile for a horizon window that includes a plurality of speed change regions represented by at least some distance dependent speed values or at least some distance independent speed values, and creating a synthesized speed profile for the horizon window by processing the speed trajectory profile. The synthesized speed profile optimizes efficiency of the powertrain control system at each of the plurality of speed change regions.

Abstract: A supplier network device is provided and includes a supplier processor and memory that stores a credential package including information for a chip or a vehicle control module (VCM). The supplier processor: receives ID and signature public keys from the chip, where the ID and signature public keys correspond respectively to private keys stored in the chip; transmit the ID and signature public keys to a certificate authority processor of a vehicle manufacturer data center; and receive the credential package including signing certificates from the certificate authority processor prior to assembling the VCM. The supplier processor: reads the ID public key from the VCM subsequent to incorporating the chip in the VCM; identifies the credential package based on the ID public key; and based on the identifying of the credential package, programs the VCM with the signing certificates prior to installation of the vehicle control module in a vehicle.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for controlling an autonomous vehicle (AV). A map generator module processes sensor data to generate a world representation of a particular driving scenario (PDS). A scene understanding module (SUM) processes navigation route data, position information and a feature map to define an autonomous driving task (ADT), and decomposes the ADT into a sequence of sub-tasks. The SUM selects a particular combination of sensorimotor primitive modules (SPMs) to be enabled and executed for the PDS. Each one of the SPMs addresses a sub-task in the sequence. A primitive processor module executes the particular combination of the SPMs such that each generates a vehicle trajectory and speed (VTS) profile. A selected one of the VTS profiles is then processed to generate the control signals, which are then processed at a low-level controller to generate commands that control one or more of actuators of the AV.

Abstract: Various technologies described herein pertain to generating an occupancy grid movie for utilization in motion planning for the autonomous vehicle. The occupancy grid movie can be generated for a given time and can include time-stepped occupancy grids for future times that are at predefined time intervals from the given time. The time-stepped occupancy grids include cells corresponding to regions in an environment surrounding the autonomous vehicle. Probabilities can be assigned to the cells specifying likelihoods that the regions corresponding to the cells are occupied at the future times. Moreover, cached query objects that respectively specify indices of cells of a grid occupied by a representation of an autonomous vehicle at corresponding orientations are described herein. An occupancy grid for the environment surrounding the autonomous vehicle can be queried to determine whether cells of the occupancy grid are occupied utilizing a cached query object from the cache query objects.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for attaching a first device to a second device. The method includes providing an attachment structure for attaching the first device to the second device that includes a fastener that is movable from a first position to a second position within the attachment structure, moving the first device into position to be attached to the second device with the fastener in the first position, obscuring an attachment detection window with a window barrier fixed to the fastener, securing the first device to the second device by sliding the fastener from the first position to the second position, locking the fastener in the second position, revealing the attachment detection window when the fastener is locked in the second position, and reading the attachment detection window to detect that the first device has been properly attached to the second device.

Abstract: An electrochemical cell comprises an electrolyte capable of facilitating ion transfer between an anode and a cathode. A method for identifying and/or characterizing a soft short in an electrochemical cell comprises cooling the electrochemical cell to an observation temperature at which inter-electrolyte ion migration is substantially inhibited, observing the open circuit voltage (OCV) of the electrochemical cell at the observation temperature for a period of time, and determining the presence of a soft short in the electrochemical cell if the OCV reaches a minimum threshold voltage prior to the expiration of the period of time. The method can optionally further include generating an impedance spectrum for the cell via potentiostatic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (PETS) at or below the observation temperature, and defining the cell leakage resistance as the maximum impedance limit of the impedance spectrum. The observation temperature can comprise the glass transition temperature of the electrolyte.

Abstract: Thin amorphous or partially crystalline lithium-containing and conducting sulfide or oxysulfide glass electrode/separator members are prepared from a layer of molten glass or of glass powder. The resulting glass films are formed to lie face-to face against a lithium metal anode or a sodium metal anode and a cathode and to provide for good transport of lithium ions between the electrodes during repeated cycling of the cell and to prevent shorting of the cell by dendrites growing from the lithium metal or sodium metal anode.

Abstract: Systems, Apparatuses and Methods for implementing a neural network system for controlling an autonomous vehicle (AV) are provided, which includes: a neural network having a plurality of nodes with context to vector (context2vec) contextual embeddings to enable operations of the AV; a plurality of encoded context2vec AV words in a sequence of timing to embed data of context and behavior; a set of inputs which comprise: at least one of a current, a prior, and a subsequent encoded context2vec AV word; a neural network solution applied by the at least one computer to determine a target context2vec AV word of each set of the inputs based on the current context2vec AV word; an output vector computed by the neural network that represents the embedded distributional one-hot scheme of the input encoded context2vec AV word; and a set of behavior control operations for controlling a behavior of the AV.

Abstract: A two-part mechanical fastener comprising an elongated body with a bore slidably carrying a mandrel adapted to interferingly engage the body is described. The fastener body has one or more protuberances on its exterior surface. In an aspect, the protuberances form a thread. The fastener is adapted to form an opening in, and penetrate, a stack of two or more workpieces. To secure the workpieces in the workpiece stack and form a robust joint, the fastener body is deformed by the mandrel, expanding the body, so that a body end engages a surface of the workpiece stack and the one or more protuberances are brought into engagement with the walls of the opening. Methods of using such a fastener to secure non-ferrous or polymer-based sheet-like workpieces to one another are disclosed.

Abstract: Systems and method are provided for controlling a vehicle. The vehicle includes a first device onboard the vehicle providing first data, a second device onboard the vehicle providing second data, one or more sensors onboard the vehicle, one or more actuators onboard the vehicle, and a controller. The controller detects a stationary condition based on output of the one or more sensors, obtains a first set of the first data from the first device during the stationary condition, filters horizontal edge regions from the first set resulting in a filtered set of the first data, obtains a second set of the second data during the stationary condition, determines one or more transformation parameter values based on a relationship between the second set and the filtered set, and autonomously operates the one or more actuators onboard the vehicle in a manner that is influenced by the transformation parameter values.

Abstract: An engine structure configured to a control swirl in a diesel engine combustion chamber and a diesel engine assembly including the engine structure defines first and second intake ports and a connecting passage connecting the first and second intake ports. The first intake port is in fluid communication with the combustion chamber and configured to direct a first intake airflow into the combustion chamber, and the second intake port is in fluid communication with the combustion chamber and configured to direct a second intake airflow into the combustion chamber. The connecting passage connects the first intake port to the second intake port and is defined by the engine structure outside of the combustion chamber.