Abstract: A modular central electrical unit for motor vehicles, comprising an electrically insulating base body (1) having plug locations (3, 4), which are formed on the outer wall of the base body (1), for accommodating an electrical and an electromechanical functional unit, which plug locations are connected to one another and to a cable harness (10) and/or an electronic functional unit (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 25). In a central electrical unit, which can be upgraded and/or modified without any additional space requirement, an electrical connection (5) which passes out of the base body (1) is such that it overhangs the base body (1), and a base body segment (8), which is formed from a plug body of a vehicle component (10) that is to be connected and is composed of insulating material, is mechanically attached to the base body (1), with the base body segment (8) and/or the fitted functional unit (14, 15, 25) being electrically connected to the electrical connection (5).

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for determining the perpendicular distance between an object and a device whose position varies, in particular a motor vehicle, in the case of which device a first sensor which is arranged on this device emits a signal which is reflected by the object, and this reflected signal is received by this first sensor, in which case the delay time of the signal from transmission to reception is used by the first sensor to determine the distance between the first sensor and the object.

Abstract: The invention relates to a modular central electrical unit for motor vehicles, comprising an electrically insulating base body (1) having plug locations (3, 4), which are formed on the outer wall of the base body (1), for accommodating an electrical and an electromechanical functional unit, which plug locations are connected to one another and to a cable harness (10) and/or an electronic functional unit (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 25).

Abstract: A system and method for determining the distance between an object and a device of varying location, in which a first or second sensor arranged on the device emits a signal which is reflected by the object. The reflected signal is received by the sensor transmitting the signal and by the respective other sensor, and an evaluation device determines the propagation times between the transmission of the signal and the reception of the signal for each sensor and determines therefrom all the possible positions of the objects relative to the device of varying location referred to the sensor. The distance from the motor vehicle being determined from the corresponding positions of the measurements.