Back to results
US 12,561,835 B2Granted
Method and system for calculating vehicle trailer angle
OwnerRobin Plowman, Alexander Kadyrovinventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a method for determining the yaw angle of a trailer with respect to the longitudinal axis of a towing vehicle based on at least one feature included in multiple captured images by using correction information.
Claims17
A method for determining the yaw angle of a trailer with respect to a longitudinal axis of a towing vehicle comprising a towball, the method comprising:
- operating a trailer assist system with the trailer and the towing vehicle,
- aligning a camera along the longitudinal axis, and arranging the camera so as to point backwards towards the trailer so as to include at least some of the trailer in a field of view of the camera;
- by the camera, obtaining multiple images that include at least some portion of the trailer,
- capturing the images including at least a first and a second image of the trailer using a camera of the towing vehicle, an orientation of the trailer with respect to the vehicle being different on the at least two images;
- determining at least a first feature of the trailer which is visible on the first and second images;
- calculating a first angle estimation, the first angle estimation characterizing a pivot angle in a horizontal plane between the first feature on the first image and the first feature on the second image with respect to a position of the camera of the towing vehicle;
- providing one or more angle coefficients, the one or more angle coefficients providing scaling information for the first angle estimation;
- calculating the yaw angle based on the first angle estimation and based on the one or more angle coefficients by scaling the first angle estimation by the one or more angle coefficients;
- and
- using the calculated yaw angle by the trailer assist system in a trailer assist operation of the towing vehicle;
- wherein the one or more angle coefficients are established by a distance between the camera and a towball of the towing vehicle divided by a distance between the camera and one or more features, including the first feature, of the trailer.
8 more elements
A system for determining the yaw angle of a trailer with respect to a longitudinal axis of a towing vehicle, the system comprising a camera for capturing images of the trailer, the system further being configured to execute a method comprising:
- operating a trailer assist system with the trailer and the towing vehicle,
- aligning a camera along the longitudinal axis, and arranging the camera so as to point backwards towards the trailer so as to include at least some of the trailer in a field of view of the camera;
- by the camera, obtaining multiple images that include at least some portion of the trailer,
- capturing the images including at least a first and a second image of the trailer using a camera, an orientation of the trailer with respect to the towing vehicle being different on the at least two images;
- determining at least a first feature of the trailer which is visible on the first and second images;
- calculating a first angle estimation, the first angle estimation characterizing a pivot angle in a horizontal plane between the first feature on the first image and the first feature on the second image with respect to a position of the camera of the towing vehicle;
- providing one or more angle coefficients, the one or more angle coefficients providing scaling information for the first angle estimation;
- calculating the yaw angle based on the first angle estimation and based on the one or more angle coefficients;
- using the calculated yaw angle by the trailer assist system in a trailer assist operation of the towing vehicle;
- wherein the one or more angle coefficients are established by a distance between the camera and a towball of the towing vehicle divided by a distance between the camera and one or more features, including the first feature, of the trailer.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.