Trailer Detection And Autonomous Hitching

A system for autonomously maneuvering a tow vehicle towards a trailer for autonomous hitching between the trailer and the tow vehicle, the system comprising:

• data processing hardware;
• and
• 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 images from one or more cameras positioned on a back portion of the tow vehicle and in communication with the data processing hardware;
• receiving sensor data from an inertial measurement unit in communication with the data processing hardware and supported by the tow vehicle;
• determining a pixel-wise intensity difference between a current received image and a previous received image;
• determining a camera pose and a trailer pose with respect to a world coordinate system, the camera pose and the trailer pose based on the images, the sensor data, and the pixel-wise intensity difference;
• determining a tow vehicle path based on the camera pose and the trailer pose;
• and
• sending instruction to a drive system supported by the tow vehicle, the instructions causing the tow vehicle to autonomously maneuver along the tow vehicle path in a reverse direction causing the tow vehicle to hitch with the trailer.