Trailer presence detection system and method

• US 20060187008A1
• Filed: 02/04/2005
• Published: 08/24/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch Corporation (Robert Bosch GmbH), Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Yu, Jingsheng
• Granted Patent: US 7,394,354 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/431
• CPC Class Codes: B60D 1/58 Auxiliary devices

Abstract

A system and method of detecting a vehicle trailer. The method includes sensing a first vehicle condition that indicates a movement of the vehicle, and sensing a second vehicle condition that indicates an angle of the vehicle. The method also includes determining a disturbance from the movement and the angle of the vehicle, and detecting a trailer presence when the determined disturbance is above a threshold.

Claims

1. A method of detecting a vehicle trailer adapted to be connected at a hitch of a towing vehicle, the method comprising:

sensing a first vehicle condition indicative of a movement of the towing vehicle;

sensing a second vehicle condition indicative of an angle of the towing vehicle;

determining a disturbance at the hitch based on data including at least the movement of the vehicle and the angle of the vehicle; and

detecting a trailer presence when the determined disturbance at the hitch is above a threshold.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the movement of the vehicle comprises a yaw rate.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the angle of the vehicle comprises at least one of a body slip angle of the vehicle and a lateral acceleration of the vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the data further includes a steering angle, a mass, a longitudinal speed, a moment of inertia around a center point, a cornering stiffness of a front tire, a cornering stiffness of a rear tire, a distance between the front tire and the center point, a second distance between the rear tire and the center point, and a distance between the rear tire and the hitch of the towing vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the movement of the vehicle comprises a sensed movement, and wherein determining the disturbance at the hitch comprises:

determining a movement estimate; and

comparing the movement estimate with the sensed movement.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the angle comprises a sensed angle, and wherein determining the disturbance at the hitch comprises:

determining an angle estimate; and

comparing the angle estimate with the sensed angle.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the disturbance comprises a hitch force.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the disturbance comprises a hitch force estimate, the method further comprising adjusting the hitch force estimate based on a plurality of wheel torques including an engine driving torque and a brake torque.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the disturbance comprises a hitch force estimate, the method further comprising integrating the hitch force estimate over a period of time.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the disturbance at the hitch comprises finding at least one of a convergence of a yaw rate estimate, a second convergence of a body slip angle, and a convergence of a plurality of hitch force values.

11. A system for detecting a vehicle trailer adapted to be connected at a hitch of a towing vehicle, the system comprising:

a plurality of sensors configured to sense respective vehicle conditions, the conditions including a movement and a speed of the towing vehicle;

an estimator configured to estimate a disturbance at the hitch based on data including at least the movement of the towing vehicle and the speed of the towing vehicle; and

a detector configured to detect a trailer presence when the estimated disturbance at the hitch is above a threshold.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the movement of the towing vehicle comprises a lateral movement of the towing vehicle.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the speed of the towing vehicle comprises a wheel speed of the towing vehicle.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the disturbance comprises a hitch force.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the data further includes a steering angle, a mass, a yaw rate, a body slip angle, a moment of inertia around a center point, a cornering stiffness of a front tire, a cornering stiffness of a rear tire, a distance between the front tire and the center point, a second distance between the rear tire and the center point, and a distance between the rear tire and the hitch of the towing vehicle.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the movement comprises a sensed movement, and wherein the estimator is further configured to determine a movement estimate and to compare the movement estimate with the sensed movement.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the conditions further comprise a second vehicle condition indicative of a body slip angle of the towing vehicle, and wherein the estimator is further configured to determine a body slip angle estimate and to compare the angle estimate with the sensed angle.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the estimated disturbance at the hitch comprises a hitch force estimate, and the detector comprises a force adjusting module adapted to adjust the hitch force estimate based on a plurality of wheel torques including an engine driving torque and a brake torque.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the estimated disturbance at the hitch comprises a hitch force estimate, and the detector comprises an integrator configured to integrate the hitch force estimate over a period of time.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein the estimator is further configured to find at least one of a convergence of a yaw rate estimate, a second convergence of a body slip angle, and a convergence of a plurality of hitch force values.

21. A method of detecting a vehicle trailer adapted to be connected at a hitch of a towing vehicle, the method comprising:

modeling a plurality of dynamics of the towing vehicle;

determining a plurality of hitch force values from the modeled dynamics of the towing vehicle;

summing the determined hitch force values; and

detecting a trailer presence when the sum of the hitch force values exceeds a threshold.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the plurality of dynamics of the towing vehicle are modeled with one of a linear bicycle model, a single-track model, a two-track model, and a non-linear bicycle model.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the plurality of dynamics of the towing vehicle comprise a wheel speed, a steering angle, a mass, a yaw rate, a body slip angle, a moment of inertia around a center point, a cornering stiffness of a front tire, a cornering stiffness of a rear tire, a distance between the front tire and the center point, a second distance between the rear tire and the center point, and a distance between the rear tire and the hitch.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein determining the plurality of hitch force values comprises:

sensing a vehicle condition indicative of a yaw rate of the towing vehicle;

determining a yaw rate estimate; and

comparing the yaw rate estimate with the sensed yaw rate.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein determining the plurality of hitch force values comprises:

sensing a vehicle condition indicative of a body slip angle of the towing vehicle;

determining a body slip angle estimate; and

comparing the body slip angle estimate with the sensed body slip angle.

26. The method of claim 21, further comprising finding at least one of a convergence of a yaw rate estimate, a second convergence of a body slip angle, and a convergence of the plurality of hitch force values.

27. The method of claim 21, wherein summing the determined hitch force values comprises adjusting the determined hitch force values based on a plurality of wheel torques including an engine driving torque and a brake torque.

28. The method of claim 21, wherein summing the determined hitch force values comprises integrating the determined hitch force values over a period of time.

29. A system for detecting a vehicle trailer adapted to be connected at a hitch of a towing vehicle, the system comprising:

means for modeling a plurality of dynamics of the towing vehicle;

means for determining a plurality of hitch force values based at least in part on the modeled dynamics;

means for determining a sum of the determined hitch force values; and

means for detecting a trailer presence when the sum exceeds a threshold.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the plurality of dynamics are modeled with one of a linear bicycle model, a single-track model, a two-track model, and a non-linear bicycle model.

31. The system of claim 29, wherein the plurality of dynamics of the towing vehicle comprise a wheel speed, a steering angle, a mass, a yaw rate, a body slip angle, a moment of inertia around a center point, a cornering stiffness of a front tire, a cornering stiffness of a rear tire, a distance between the front tire and the center point, a second distance between the rear tire and the center point, and a distance between the rear tire and the hitch.

32. The system of claim 29, wherein means for determining a plurality of hitch force values comprises:

means for sensing a vehicle condition indicative of a yaw rate of the towing vehicle;

means for determining a yaw rate estimate; and

means for comparing the yaw rate estimate with the sensed yaw rate.

33. The system of claim 29, wherein means for determining a plurality of hitch force values comprises:

means for sensing a vehicle condition indicative of a body slip angle of the towing vehicle;

means for determining a body slip angle estimate; and

means for comparing the body slip angle estimate with the sensed body slip angle.

34. The system of claim 29, further comprising means for finding at least one of a convergence of a yaw rate estimate, a second convergence of a body slip angle, and a convergence of the plurality of hitch force values.

35. The system of claim 29, wherein the means for determining a sum of the determined hitch force values comprises means for adjusting the determined hitch force values based on a plurality of wheel torques including an engine driving torque and a brake torque.

36. The system of claim 29, wherein the means for determining a sum of the determined hitch force values comprises means for integrating the determined hitch force values over a period of time.