US 12,214,725 B2Granted

Transparent trailer articulation view

AssigneeContinental Autonomous Mobility US, LLC

InventorAranza Hinojosa Castro

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A method for providing a panoramic view (152) of an environment behind a trailer (106) of a vehicle-trailer system (100). The method includes receiving a first image (133, 133b) from a rear trailer camera (132, 132b), a second image (133, 133c) from a right-side trailer camera (132, 132c), and a third image (133, 133d) from a left-side trailer camera (132, 132d). The method includes determining a panoramic view (152) based on the first image (133, 133b), the second image (133, 133c), and the third image (133, 133d). Additionally, the method includes determining a trailer angle (α) based on sensor system data (131) received from a sensor system (130). The method includes determining a viewing area (154) within the panoramic view (152) based on the trailer angle (α) and sending instructions (156) to a display (122) to display the viewing area (154).

Claims14

Dependent claims

A method of determining a panoramic view of an environment behind a trailer of a vehicle-trailer system, the method comprising:

receiving, at data processing hardware, a first image from a rear trailer camera positioned on a rear portion of the trailer;
receiving, at the data processing hardware, a second image from a right-side trailer camera positioned on a right-side portion of the trailer;
receiving, at the data processing hardware, a third image from a left-side trailer camera positioned on a left-side portion of the trailer;
determining, at the data processing hardware, a panoramic view based on the first image, the second image, and the third image;
determining, at the data processing hardware, a trailer angle based on sensor system data received from a sensor system;
determining, at the data processing hardware, a viewing area within the panoramic view based on the trailer angle;
sending, from the data processing hardware to a display in communication with the data processing hardware, instructions to display the viewing area;
receiving a fourth image from a rear vehicle camera positioned on a rear portion of a vehicle of the vehicle-trailer system, the fourth image including a trailer representation of the trailer;
and
forming a fifth image by projecting at least the viewing area of the panoramic view only within a boundary of the trailer representation of the fourth image such that no part of the viewing area is projected outside of the boundary of the trailer representation;
wherein the instructions to display the viewing area of the panoramic view comprises instructions for displaying the fifth image.

8 more elements

A system for providing a panoramic view of an environment behind a trailer of a vehicle-trailer system, the system comprising:

a display;
data processing hardware in communication with the display;
memory hardware in communication with the data processing hardware, the memory hardware storing instructions that when executed on the data processing hardware cause the data processing hardware to perform operations comprising:
receiving a first image from a rear trailer camera positioned on a rear portion of the trailer;
receiving a second image from a right-side trailer camera positioned on a right-side portion of the trailer;
receiving a third image from a left-side trailer camera positioned on a left-side portion of the trailer;
determining a panoramic view based on the first image, the second image, and the third image;
determining a trailer angle based on sensor system data received from a sensor system;
determining a viewing area within the panoramic view based on the trailer angle;
sending instructions to the display to display the viewing area;
receiving a fourth image from a rear vehicle camera positioned on a rear portion of a vehicle of the vehicle-trailer system, the fourth image including a trailer representation of the trailer;
and
generating a fifth image by projecting at least the viewing area of the panoramic view only within a boundary of the trailer representation of the fourth image such that no part of the viewing area is projected outside of the boundary of the trailer representation,
wherein the instructions to display the viewing area of the panoramic view include instructions for displaying the fifth image.

11 more elements

A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code instructions which, when executed by data processing hardware, cause the data processing hardware to perform operations comprising:

receiving a first image from a rear trailer camera positioned on a rear portion of the trailer;
receiving a second image from a right-side trailer camera positioned on a right-side portion of the trailer;
receiving a third image from a left-side trailer camera positioned on a left-side portion of the trailer;
determining a panoramic view based on the first image, the second image, and the third image;
determining a trailer angle based on sensor system data received from a sensor system;
determining a viewing area within the panoramic view based on the trailer angle;
sending instructions to the display to display the viewing area;
receiving a fourth image from a rear vehicle camera positioned on a rear portion of a vehicle of the vehicle-trailer system, the fourth image including a trailer representation of the trailer;
and
generating a fifth image by projecting at least the viewing area of the panoramic view only within a boundary of the trailer representation of the fourth image;
wherein the instructions to display the viewing area of the panoramic view include instructions for displaying the fifth image.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/753,485Filed 4 Sep 2020 · us provisional application
Priority: 4 Sep 2019
Published: US 2022/0371514 A124 Nov 2022
Granted: 4 Feb 2025
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification16 codes

B60R 1/003
Specially adapted for covering the peripheral part of the vehicle, e.g. for viewing tyres, bumpers or the like: for viewing trailer hitches
B60R 1/26
With a predetermined field of view: to the rear of the vehicle
H04N 5/265
Studio circuits, e.g. for mixing, switching-over, change of character of image, other special effects ; Cameras specially adapted for the…: mixing
H04N 7/183
Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast: for receiving images from a single remote source

Family

Application62/895,745Us provisional application · filed 4 Sep 2019
US 2022/0371514 A1Pre-grant publication · published 24 Nov 2022
US 12,214,725 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

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