Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for dampening impact to a vehicle. The system may include a vehicle frame component; a plurality of adjustable exterior vehicle body components coupled to the frame component, wherein the vehicle body components are on different sides of a vehicle and are configurable to dampen an external force exerted on the vehicle; a plurality of actuator components configured to adjust physical configurations of the vehicle body components relative to the frame component; a component configured to collect data representing an external environment of the vehicle; and one or more processors configured to detect, by processing the data, an external driving condition, wherein the external driving condition is an impending collision between the vehicle and one or more objects external to the vehicle, and when the external driving condition is detected, cause the actuator components to correspondingly adjust the physical configurations of the vehicle body components.

Abstract: An alert may be triggered to notify a pedestrian of the current operational mode of a nearby vehicle. For instance, a vehicle may operate in an autonomous or manual mode, and may occasionally switch from one mode to the other. A pedestrian who may be unaware of the current operational mode of a nearby vehicle may notice the alert and proceed accordingly. In one embodiment, an indication of the current operational mode of the nearby vehicle may be transmitted to an electronic device associated with the pedestrian. The device may generate a notification to the pedestrian based on the current operational mode. In an additional or alternative embodiment, the alert may be transmitted by the vehicle externally to be visible or audible to the pedestrian. In some embodiments, the alert may be triggered only for particular operational modes (e.g., only for autonomous or only for manual).

Abstract: A system and method are provided for dampening impact to a vehicle. The system may include an adjustable exterior vehicle component configured to dampen an external force exerted on the vehicle, a vehicle frame component configured to couple to the adjustable exterior vehicle component, an actuator component configured to adjust a physical configuration of the adjustable exterior vehicle component, an external communication component configured to collect driving environment data representing an external environment of the vehicle, and one or more processors configured to receive driving environment data and detect, by processing the driving environment data, an external driving condition. When the one or more processors detect the external driving condition, the one or more processors may cause the actuator component to adjust the adjustable exterior vehicle component to a specific physical configuration.

Abstract: An alert may be triggered to notify a pedestrian of the current operational mode of a nearby vehicle. For instance, a vehicle may operate in an autonomous or manual mode, and may occasionally switch from one mode to the other. A pedestrian who may be unaware of the current operational mode of a nearby vehicle may notice the alert and proceed accordingly. In one embodiment, an indication of the current operational mode of the nearby vehicle may be transmitted to an electronic device associated with the pedestrian. The device may generate a notification to the pedestrian based on the current operational mode. In an additional or alternative embodiment, the alert may be transmitted by the vehicle externally to be visible or audible to the pedestrian. In some embodiments, the alert may be triggered only for particular operational modes (e.g., only for autonomous or only for manual).

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for improving safety of one or more vehicle occupants. An example method for improving safety of one or more vehicle occupants includes accessing interior vehicle configuration data that is generated by, or derived from data generated by an interior data collection component, the data representing an interior space of a vehicle; determining, by processing the interior vehicle configuration data, location and orientation of one or more vehicle occupants; selecting a plurality of vehicle safety components to be active based on the location and orientation of the one or more vehicle occupants, and setting the plurality of vehicle safety components to an active state in which the plurality of vehicle safety components are deployed, when an emergency condition is detected.

Abstract: A system and method are provided for improving safety of one or more vehicle occupants. The system may include an interior data collection component configured to collected interior configuration data representing a physical configuration of the interior space of the vehicle, a plurality of vehicle safety components configured to protect the one or more vehicle occupants when deployed and one or more processors configured to determine, by processing the interior vehicle configuration data, a location and orientation of the one or more vehicle occupants; select a subset of the plurality of vehicle safety components to be active based on the location and orientation of the one or more vehicle occupants; and set the selected subset of the plurality of vehicle safety components to an active state in which the selected subset of the plurality of vehicle safety components is deployed when an emergency condition is detected.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for dynamically protecting transportable articles in vehicles. A system for dynamically protecting a transportable article in a vehicle may include one or more processors and non-volatile memory storing instructions. The instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to access sensed data representative of at least one of a characteristic or a trait of a transportable article in a vehicle, determine based on the data the at least one of the characteristic or the trait of the transportable article, select one or more article protection components based on the determined at least one of the characteristic or the trait of the transportable article, and deploy the selected one or more article protection components to protect the transportable article.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for controlling operation of a vehicle. An example system for controlling operation of a vehicle includes one or more data collection components and one or more processors. The one or more data collection components are configured to collect data representative of a physical configuration of an interior vehicle component. The one or more processors are configured to access the collected data, determine, by processing the collected data, the physical configuration of the interior vehicle component, select a manner of operation based upon the determined physical configuration of the interior vehicle component, and cause the vehicle to operate according to the manner of operation.

Abstract: A system and method are provided for dynamically protecting one or more transportable articles in a vehicle. The system may include an interior data collection component configured to collect transportable article data representing one or more transportable articles in the vehicle, a plurality of article protections components configured to protect the one or more transportable articles when deployed, and one or more processors configured to determine, by processing the transportable data, one or more characteristic(s) and/or trait(s) of the one or more transportable articles; select a subset of the plurality of article protection components to deploy based on the one or more characteristic(s) and/or trait(s) of the one or more transportable articles; and deploy the selected subset of the plurality of article protection components to protect the one or more transportable articles.

Abstract: A system and method are provided for controlling operation of a vehicle. The system may include an interior data collection component configured to collected interior configuration data representing an interior space of the vehicle, a vehicle operation control configured to control actions of the vehicle, and one or more processors configured to determine, by processing the interior vehicle configuration data, an interior vehicle configuration of the vehicle, and cause the vehicle operation controller to cause the vehicle to take a specific action based on the interior vehicle configuration.

Abstract: In an embodiment, movement-data is gathered with one or more sensors (e.g., accelerometers, GPS receivers, etc.) during a driver's driving session. A score may be calculated for the driving session, and the driver's progress is evaluated by a driver-evaluation system. A driving session report or graphical user-interface (GUI) is generated with a computer processor and displayed at a display device. The displayed report or GUI includes a graphic representing the driver's progress relative to historical data.

Abstract: In a network of autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles, an alert may be triggered when one of the vehicles switches from autonomous to manual mode. The alert may be communicated to nearby autonomous vehicles so that drivers of those vehicles may become aware of a potentially unpredictable manual driver nearby. Drivers of autonomous vehicles who may have become disengaged (e.g., sleeping, reading, talking, etc.) during autonomous driving may become re-engaged upon noticing the alert. A re-engaged driver may choose to switch his/her own vehicle from autonomous to manual mode in order to appropriately react to an unpredictable nearby manual driver. In additional or alternative embodiments, the alert may be triggered or intensified when indications of impairment of a nearby driver or malfunction of a nearby vehicle are detected.

Abstract: Systems and methods for real-time detection and mitigation anomalous behavior of a remote vehicle are provided, e.g., vehicle behavior that is consistent with distracted or unexpectedly disabled driving. On-board and off-board sensors associated with a subject vehicle may monitor the subject vehicle's environment, and behavior characteristics of a remote vehicle operating within the subject vehicle's environment may be determined based upon collected sensor data. The remote vehicle's behavior characteristics may be utilized to detect or determine the presence of anomalous behavior, which may be anomalous for the current contextual conditions of the vehicles' environment. Mitigating actions for detected remote vehicle anomalous behaviors may be suggested and/or automatically implemented at the subject vehicle and/or at proximate vehicles to avoid or reduce the risk of accidents, injury, or death resulting from the anomalous behavior. In some situations, authorities may be notified.

Abstract: An alert may be triggered to notify a pedestrian of the current operational mode of a nearby vehicle. For instance, a vehicle may operate in an autonomous or manual mode, and may occasionally switch from one mode to the other. A pedestrian who may be unaware of the current operational mode of a nearby vehicle may notice the alert and proceed accordingly. In one embodiment, an indication of the current operational mode of the nearby vehicle may be transmitted to an electronic device associated with the pedestrian. The device may generate a notification to the pedestrian based on the current operational mode. In an additional or alternative embodiment, the alert may be transmitted by the vehicle externally to be visible or audible to the pedestrian. In some embodiments, the alert may be triggered only for particular operational modes (e.g., only for autonomous or only for manual).

Abstract: Systems and methods for real-time detection and mitigation anomalous behavior of a remote vehicle are provided, e.g., vehicle behavior that is consistent with distracted or unexpectedly disabled driving. On-board and off-board sensors associated with a subject vehicle may monitor the subject vehicle's environment, and behavior characteristics of a remote vehicle operating within the subject vehicle's environment may be determined based upon collected sensor data. The remote vehicle's behavior characteristics may be utilized to detect or determine the presence of anomalous behavior, which may be anomalous for the current contextual conditions of the vehicles' environment. Mitigating actions for detected remote vehicle anomalous behaviors may be suggested and/or automatically implemented at the subject vehicle and/or at proximate vehicles to avoid or reduce the risk of accidents, injury, or death resulting from the anomalous behavior. In some situations, authorities may be notified.

Abstract: A method includes, for each of two or more driving sessions in which a student driver operates a vehicle, gathering driving skill data indicative of at least one of behavior of the student driver, acceleration of the vehicle, braking of the vehicle, or steering of the vehicle, and generating a driving session report. The method further includes causing the driving session reports corresponding to the two or more driving sessions to be displayed to a driving instructor, and receiving comments from the driving instructor about the two or more driving sessions of the student driver. Still further, the method includes storing the driving session reports corresponding to the two or more driving sessions along with the received comments from the driving instructor.

Abstract: Real-time feedback may be generated during a driving session from status data collected via one or more sensors. This feedback data may include various metrics related to a student's driving skills, which may be utilized to generate tagged driving events. A user may also manually enter tagged driving events. The tagged driving events may include real-time information based on the collected status data, such as acceleration, braking, cornering data, descriptions entered by the user. The location of these tagged driving events may be mapped in real time. Sensors used to collect this data may be integrated within the device displaying the feedback or located on another device, in which case the status data may be communicated to the device displaying the feedback. The displayed real-time feedback may be viewed by an instructor to assess a student's driving skills in real time and to calculate a driver feedback score.

Abstract: During driving sessions, data may be collected via one or more sensors that are incorporated within a vehicle or as part of a device carried within the vehicle. Using this data, a driving session report may be generated and a driving session feedback score may be calculated, which provides feedback regarding a students' driving skills Driver profiles may be generated for each student including contact information and/or any number of driving session reports saved over the course of several driving sessions. A user interface is described that facilitates interaction by allowing a user to create driver profiles, group driver profiles, display driver profiles as a single list view or as a grouped list view, select driver profiles from these displayed lists, edit driver information and/or delete driver profiles, and display driving session reports stored as part of a driver profile together such that comparisons may be made.

Abstract: In a computer-implemented method, data about potential vehicle operator impairment is retrieved. The data is generated by monitoring a vehicle operator, the environment ahead of the vehicle, and/or force in one or more directions. A number of impairment scores are generated by analyzing the data about potential vehicle operator impairment. A specific time period during which the vehicle operator tends to be most impaired is determined based on the impairment scores. Recommendations to reduce operator impairment of the vehicle operator are identified and communicated to the vehicle operator.

Abstract: The method, system, and computer-readable medium facilitates monitoring one or more eyes of a vehicle operator during a driving session to generate a plurality of gaze location logs with gaze location values. The gaze location value may be generated by determining a location of the vehicle operator's gaze, determining which area of the vehicle is associated with the gaze location, and assigning the gaze location value based on the area of the vehicle associated with the gaze location. The gaze location logs may be analyzed to determine the duration of the vehicle operator's gaze at each area of the vehicle. Based on the duration of the vehicle operators gaze, one or more recommendations to improve vehicle operator performance may be identified and communicated to the vehicle operator.