# US 11,299,158 B2 · Unintended standstill response in an assisted hitching operation

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- Number: US 11,299,158 B2
- Document ID: US11299158B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/459,960
- Filed: 2019-07-02
- Published: 2021-01-07
- Granted: 2022-04-12
- Earliest claimed: 2019-07-02
- Assignees: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
- Applicants: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
- Inventors: Luke Niewiadomski; Li Xu; Roger Trombley; Donald Jacob Mattern; Yu Ling; Arnav Sharma
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11299158B2

## CPC

- B60D 1/62: involving supply lines, electric circuits or the like
- B60W 30/18036: {Reversing}
- B60W 10/04: including control of propulsion units
- B60W 10/18: including control of braking systems
- B60W 10/20: including control of steering systems
- B60W 50/14: Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
- B60D 1/06: Ball-and-socket hitches
- B60D 1/36: for facilitating connection, e.g. hitch catchers
- B60W 2050/146: {Display means}
- B60W 2300/14: Tractor-trailers, i.e. combinations of a towing vehicle and one or more towed vehicles, e.g. caravans; Road trains
- B60W 2420/403: Image sensing, e.g. optical camera
- B60W 2520/10: Longitudinal speed
- B60W 2520/28: Wheel speed
- B60W 2540/12: Brake pedal position
- B60W 2552/15: Road slope, i.e. the inclination of a road segment in the longitudinal direction
- B60W 2552/20: Road profile, i.e. the change in elevation or curvature of a plurality of continuous road segments
- B60W 2554/20: Static objects
- B60W 2554/80: Spatial relation or speed relative to objects
- B60W 2710/18: Braking system
- B60D: VEHICLE CONNECTIONS
- B60W: CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT

## Abstract

A system for assisting in aligning a vehicle for hitching with a trailer includes an imaging system, a vehicle control system including at least one vehicle sensor, and a controller. The controller controls the vehicle using the vehicle control system to move the vehicle into an aligned position, where a hitch ball on the vehicle is aligned with the coupler, including monitoring a signal from the vehicle sensor and tracking a position of the coupler relative to the hitch ball in image data. When the signal indicates an unintended stopped vehicle state, the controller determines a distance from the hitch ball to the coupler. If the distance is above a predetermined threshold, the controller controls the vehicle control system to cause the vehicle to move. If the distance is below the predetermined threshold, the controller indicates the unintended stopped vehicle state to a driver of the vehicle.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A system for assisting in aligning a vehicle for hitching with a trailer, comprising:
an imaging system outputting image data;
a vehicle control system including at least one vehicle sensor outputting a signal including information related to a vehicle movement state and a vehicle brake system; and
a controller:
controlling the vehicle using the vehicle control system to move the vehicle into an aligned position, where a hitch ball mounted on the vehicle is aligned with a coupler of the trailer, including monitoring the signal from the vehicle sensor and tracking a position of the coupler relative to the hitch ball in the image data; and
when the information related to the vehicle movement state indicates an unintended stopped vehicle state, determining a distance from the hitch ball to the coupler, if the distance is above a predetermined threshold, controlling the vehicle control system to cause the vehicle to move, and, if the distance is below the predetermined threshold, indicating the unintended stopped vehicle state to a driver of the vehicle, the predetermined threshold being set at a distance from the hitch ball to the coupler that is sufficient for the controller to control the vehicle brake system and the vehicle powertrain control system to cause the vehicle to overcome the stopped vehicle condition.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the predetermined threshold is between 15 and 20 centimeters.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein, if the distance is below the predetermined threshold, the controller stops controlling the vehicle using the vehicle control system without the vehicle moving into the aligned position.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The system of claim 3, wherein:
the vehicle control system further includes a vehicle brake system having a parking brake, wherein:
prior to the controller stopping controlling the vehicle, the controller uses the vehicle control system to engage the parking brake.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The system of claim 3, wherein, when indicating the unintended stopped vehicle condition, the controller requests that the driver of the vehicle use the vehicle control system to move the vehicle in a forward direction.

### Claim 6 (depends on 4)

The system of claim 4, wherein, when the distance from the hitch ball to the coupler increases to above the predetermined threshold, the controller:
notifies the driver; and
resumes controlling the vehicle using the vehicle control system to move the vehicle into the aligned position.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein when the information related to the vehicle movement state indicates the unintended stopped vehicle state, the controller further:
uses information from the at least one vehicle sensor to determine a cause of the unintended stopped vehicle state; and
includes a communication of the cause when indicating the unintended stopped vehicle state to the driver of the vehicle.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The system of claim 7, wherein:
the at least one vehicle sensor is at least one of a brake pedal sensor, a system fault monitor, a vehicle speed sensor, a vehicle incline sensor, and a wheel rotation sensor; and
the controller uses information from the at least one vehicle sensor to determine the cause of the unintended stopped vehicle condition among one of: a driver-applied braking event, a system fault, a high road grade condition, an object contact condition, a stuck vehicle condition, or a uneven terrain condition.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein:
the vehicle control system includes:
a vehicle brake system;
a vehicle powertrain control system; and
a vehicle steering system; and
controlling the vehicle using the vehicle control system includes using the vehicle brake system, the vehicle powertrain control system, and the vehicle steering system.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, wherein the unintended stopped vehicle state is indicated when the vehicle is stopped without the controller having controlled the vehicle brake system to stop the vehicle.

### Claim 11

A vehicle, comprising:
an imaging system outputting image data;
a vehicle-human machine interface having a display screen;
a control system including at least one vehicle sensor outputting a signal including information related to a vehicle movement state; and
a hitch assistance system:
controlling the vehicle using the vehicle control system to move the vehicle into an aligned position, where a hitch ball mounted on the vehicle is aligned with a coupler of a trailer, including monitoring the signal from the vehicle sensor and tracking a position of the coupler relative to the hitch ball in the image data; and
when the information related to the vehicle movement state indicates an unintended stopped vehicle state, determining a distance from the hitch ball to the coupler, if the distance is above a predetermined threshold, controlling the vehicle brake system and the vehicle powertrain control system to cause the vehicle to move, and, if the distance is below a predetermined threshold, indicating the unintended stopped vehicle state to a driver of the vehicle by causing a message to be displayed on the display screen.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The vehicle of claim 11, wherein the predetermined threshold is set at a distance from the hitch ball to the coupler that is sufficient for the hitch assistance system to use the vehicle control system to cause the vehicle to overcome the stopped vehicle condition without moving past the aligned position.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The vehicle of claim 12, wherein, when indicating the unintended stopped vehicle condition, the hitch assistance system requests that the driver of the vehicle use the vehicle control system to move the vehicle in a forward direction.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The vehicle of claim 13, wherein, when the distance from the hitch ball to the coupler increases to above the predetermined threshold, the hitch assistance system:
notifies the driver; and
resumes controlling the vehicle using the vehicle control system to move the vehicle into the aligned position.

### Claim 15 (depends on 11)

The vehicle of claim 11, wherein when the information related to the vehicle movement state indicates the unintended stopped vehicle state, the hitch assistance system further:
uses information from the at least one vehicle sensor to determine a cause of the unintended stopped vehicle state; and
includes a communication of the cause when indicating the unintended stopped vehicle state to the driver of the vehicle.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The vehicle of claim 15, wherein:
the at least one vehicle sensor is at least one of a brake pedal sensor, a system fault monitor, a vehicle speed sensor, and a vehicle incline sensor; and
the hitch assistance system uses the information from the at least one vehicle sensor to determine the cause of the unintended stopped vehicle condition among one of: a driver-applied braking event, a system fault, a high road-grade condition, an object contact condition, or a uneven terrain condition.

### Claim 17 (depends on 11)

The vehicle of claim 11, wherein:
the at least one vehicle sensor includes a wheel rotation sensor;
when the information related to the vehicle movement state indicates the unintended stopped vehicle state, the hitch assistance system further uses information from the wheel rotation sensor to determine that the unintended stopped vehicle state corresponds with a stuck vehicle condition such that controlling the vehicle brake system and the vehicle powertrain control system to cause the vehicle to move is unsuccessful;
requesting that the driver use the vehicle control system to reposition the vehicle to overcome the stuck vehicle condition; and
resuming controlling the vehicle using the vehicle control system to move the vehicle into the aligned position upon confirmation from the user that the stuck vehicle condition has been overcome.

### Claim 18

A method for moving a vehicle to align a hitch ball mounted on the vehicle with a coupler of a trailer, comprising:
controlling a vehicle control system, including using a vehicle brake system, a vehicle powertrain control system, and a vehicle steering system within the vehicle control system, to move the vehicle toward the trailer;
tracking a position of the coupler relative to the hitch ball in image data received from a vehicle imaging system;
monitoring a signal from a vehicle sensor including information related to a vehicle movement state; and
when the information related to the vehicle movement state indicates an unintended stopped vehicle state, determining a distance from the hitch ball to the coupler, if the distance is above a predetermined threshold, controlling the vehicle brake system and the vehicle powertrain control system to cause the vehicle to move, and, if the distance is below a predetermined threshold, indicating the unintended stopped vehicle state to a driver of the vehicle.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18, wherein the unintended stopped vehicle state is indicated when the vehicle is stopped without the use of the vehicle brake system to stop the vehicle.

### Claim 20 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18, wherein the predetermined threshold is set at a distance from the hitch ball to the coupler that is sufficient for control of the vehicle brake system and the vehicle powertrain control system to cause the vehicle to overcome the stopped vehicle condition.