Automated management of a fifth-wheel hitch for an autonomous vehicle

A system for controlling an autonomous vehicle comprising:

• one or more first sensors;
• one or more second sensors;
• and
• one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
• operate, by a virtual driver system of the autonomous vehicle, the autonomous vehicle in a coupling mode to couple a fifth-wheel hitch of the autonomous vehicle with a trailer, the autonomous vehicle being a roadway vehicle, operate the autonomous vehicle in the coupling mode further comprising:
• detect, via the one or more first sensors, one or more positions of a fifth-wheel hitch of the autonomous vehicle;
• generate a first metric corresponding to a first signal received from the one or more first sensors configured to detect the fifth-wheel hitch in a first position of the one or more positions of the fifth-wheel hitch;
• generate a second metric corresponding to a second signal received from a drive assembly of the autonomous vehicle, the drive assembly configured to reposition the fifth-wheel hitch;
• provide, by a user interface of the virtual driver system, feedback of an engagement status of the trailer with the fifth-wheel hitch while the virtual driver system is in the coupling mode, the feedback including at least one of a visual feedback, an aural feedback, or a haptic feedback;
• and
• apply one or more geofence restrictions to operation of the autonomous vehicle while in the coupling mode;
• generate, based on the first and second metrics, a third metric, the third metric corresponding to a second position of the one or more positions of the fifth-wheel hitch associated with a predetermined load balancing configuration of the autonomous vehicle;
• transmit, in response to a determination that the second position of the fifth-wheel hitch corresponds to the predetermined load balancing configuration of the autonomous vehicle, the third metric to the drive assembly for controlling the fifth-wheel hitch according to the third metric;
• cause the virtual driver system of the autonomous vehicle to enter a coupled mode;
• and
• control operation of the autonomous vehicle in accordance with the predetermined load balancing configuration and the coupled mode by:
• removing at least one of the one or more geofence restrictions applied during the coupling mode;
• and
• controlling the autonomous vehicle with the trailer coupled to travel along a trajectory.

A non-transitory computer readable medium including one or more instructions stored thereon and executable by a processor of an autonomous vehicle, and that when executed by the processor of the autonomous vehicle, cause the processor to:

• operate, by a virtual driver system of the autonomous vehicle, the autonomous vehicle in a coupling mode to couple a fifth-wheel hitch of the autonomous vehicle with a trailer, the autonomous vehicle being a roadway vehicle, operate the autonomous vehicle in the coupling mode further comprising:
• detect, via one or more first sensors of the autonomous vehicle, one or more positions of a fifth-wheel hitch of the autonomous vehicle;
• generate a first metric corresponding to a first signal received from the one or more first sensors, the one or more first sensors configured to detect the fifth-wheel hitch in a first position of the one or more positions of the fifth-wheel hitch;
• generate a second metric corresponding to a second signal received from a drive assembly of the autonomous vehicle, the drive assembly configured to reposition the fifth-wheel hitch;
• provide, by a user interface of the virtual driver system, feedback of an engagement status of the trailer with the fifth-wheel hitch while the virtual driver system is in the coupling mode, the feedback including at least one of a visual feedback, an aural feedback, or a haptic feedback;
• and
• apply one or more geofence restrictions to operation of the autonomous vehicle while in the coupling mode;
• generate, based on the first and second metrics, a third metric, the third metric corresponding to a second position of the one or more positions of the fifth-wheel hitch associated with the predetermined load balancing configuration of the autonomous vehicle;
• transmit, in response to a determination that the second position of the fifth-wheel hitch corresponds to the predetermined load balancing configuration of the autonomous vehicle, the third metric to the drive assembly for controlling the fifth-wheel hitch according to the third metric;
• cause the virtual driver system of the autonomous vehicle to enter a coupled mode;
• and
• control operation of the autonomous vehicle in accordance with the predetermined load balancing configuration and the coupled mode by:
• removing at least one of the one or more geofence restrictions applied during the coupling mode;
• and
• controlling the autonomous vehicle with the trailer coupled to travel along a trajectory.