Enhanced vehicle lateral control (lane following/lane keeping/lane changing control) for trailering vehicles

A method for identifying whether a trailer being towed by a tow vehicle may at least partially cross out of a travel lane of a curve that the vehicle is traveling along, said method comprising:

• using a controller with a processor programmed for:
• determining, using a camera or a map database communicating with the controller, that the vehicle is approaching the curve in the travel lane;
• determining a radius of curvature of the curve, a lane width of the travel lane, a wheel base of the vehicle, a distance from front wheels of the vehicle to a front bumper of the vehicle, a hitch length between the vehicle and the trailer, and a length of the trailer;
• determining a predicted steering angle of the vehicle necessary to follow the radius of curvature of the curve;
• determining a turn radius of the vehicle for traveling through the curve using the predicted steering angle and the wheel base;
• determining a turn radius of a rear end point of the trailer using the turn radius of the vehicle, the wheel base of the vehicle, the distance from the front wheels of the vehicle to the front bumper of the vehicle, the hitch length and the length of the trailer;
• determining that the trailer will cross out of the travel lane based on the curvature of the curve, the turn radius of the rear end point of the trailer, the width of the trailer and the width of the travel lane;
• warning a driver of the vehicle that the trailer may cross out of the travel lane before the vehicle reaches the curve, including audio, visual and/or haptic warnings;
• determining that the vehicle has reached the curve;
• determining, using a steering angle sensor communicating with the controller a current steering angle of the vehicle;
• determining a desired steering angle of the vehicle based on the turn radius of the vehicle and the turn radius of the rear end point of the trailer;
• determining whether a difference between the current steering angle and the desired steering angle is outside of a predetermined tolerance;
• and
• providing a turn recommendation to the vehicle driver if the difference is outside of the tolerance, including audio and/or visual recommendations.