Jackknifing suppression device, jackknifing suppression method, and non-transitory computer-readable medium

A jackknife suppression method, the method being applicable to a combined vehicle including a tractor and a trailer to be towed by the tractor, and the method comprising:

• acquiring a hitch angle variable and a steered angle variable, the hitch angle variable being a variable that indicates a hitch angle that is an angle between a front-rear direction of the tractor and a front-rear direction of the trailer, and the steered angle variable being a variable that indicates a steered angle of the tractor;
• calculating a predicted value of the hitch angle using the hitch angle variable and the steered angle variable as inputs;
• determining whether there is a high risk that a jackknife occurs using the predicted value and the steered angle variable as inputs;
• and
• operating predetermined hardware in order to suppress occurrence of the jackknife when it is determined that the risk is high.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a jackknife suppression program, the program being applicable to a combined vehicle including a tractor and a trailer to be towed by the tractor, and the program causing a computer to execute an acquisition process, a prediction process, a determination process, and a treatment process, wherein:

• the acquisition process is a process of acquiring a hitch angle variable and a steered angle variable, the hitch angle variable being a variable that indicates a hitch angle that is an angle between a front-rear direction of the tractor and a front-rear direction of the trailer, and the steered angle variable being a variable that indicates a steered angle of the tractor;
• the prediction process is a process of calculating a predicted value of the hitch angle using the hitch angle variable and the steered angle variable as inputs;
• the determination process is a process of determining whether there is a high risk that a jackknife occurs using the predicted value and the steered angle variable as inputs;
• and
• the treatment process is a process of operating predetermined hardware in order to suppress occurrence of the jackknife when it is determined that the risk is high.