Apparatus and method for adjusting a vehicle component

A method for adjusting a component of a vehicle based on occupancy of a seat, comprising the steps of:

• receiving waves from an area of the seat in the passenger compartment and generating an output representative of the received waves;
• measuring the weight applied onto the seat and generating an output representative of the measured weight applied onto the seat;
• evaluating the seated-state of the seat based on the outputs representative of the received waves and the measured weight applied onto the seat to determine whether the seat is occupied by an object and if the seat is occupied by an object, to identify the object in the seat, and
• adjusting the component based on the evaluation of the seated-state thereof,
• the step of evaluating the seated-sate of the seat comprising the steps of:
• generating a function correlating the outputs representative of the received waves and the measured weight and the seated-state of the seat in a neural network circuit, and
• executing the function using the outputs representative of the received waves and the measured weight as input.

In a motor vehicle having a passenger compartment including a seat having a headrest at least one component each adjustable by an occupant of the seat, and respective control means for controlling adjustment of the at least one component, an automatic adjustment system comprising:

• first measurement means for measuring a first morphological characteristic of the occupant and generating a first signal based on said first measured morphological characteristic, the first morphological characteristic being the height of the occupant from a bottom of the seat, said first measurement means comprising at least one transducer arranged in and fixed relative to the headrest and structured and arranged to at least receive waves reflected or emananting from the occupant of the seat and displacement means for moving the headrest to a plurality of different positions to thereby enable the height of the occupant to be determined based on the waves reflected from the occupant and received by said at least one transducer,
• second measurement means for measuring a second morphological characteristic of the occupant different than said first morphological characteristic and generating a second signal based on said second measured morphological characteristic, and
• a processor for determining an optimum position or operation of the at least one component for the occupant based on said first and second measured morphological characteristics, said processor providing a control signal to said respective control means to adjust the at least one component to the optimum position or to provide the optimum operation.

In a motor vehicle having a passenger compartment including a seat having a headrest, at least one component each adjustable by an occupant of the seat, and respective control means for controlling adjustment of the at least one component, a method for automatically adjustment the component comprising the steps of:

• measuring a first morphological characteristic of the occupant and generating a first signal based on said first measured morphological characteristic, said first morphological characteristic being the height of the occupant from a bottom of the seat, said step of measuring the height of the occupant from the bottom of the seat comprising the steps of
• arranging at least one transducer in and fixed relative to the headrest, the at least one transducer receiving waves reflected or emanating from the occupant of the seat, and
• displacing the headrest to a plurality of different positions to thereby enable the height of the occupant to be determined based on the waves reflected from the occupant and received by the at least one transducer,
• measuring a second morphological characteristic of the occupant different than said first morphological characteristic and generating a second signal based on said second measured morphological characteristic,
• determining an optimum position or operation of the at least one component for the occupant based on said first and second measured morphological characteristics, and
• providing a control signal to said respective control means to adjust the at least one component to the determined optimum position or to provide the optimum operation.