Vehicle trailer angle detection system and method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system for determining a hitch angle of a trailer attached to a vehicle, comprising:
- a rearward-looking video camera mounted on the vehicle and operable to capture images rearward of the vehicle;
an image processor for processing the captured images and locating a marker on the trailer, wherein the marker comprises at least one of a mark, a sticker attached to the trailer and a vertical edge of the trailer;
a computer determining the hitch angle between the vehicle and the trailer based on the located marker; and
a display for displaying a trailer view visible to a driver of the vehicle.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle 1 towing a trailer 4 is fitted with three video cameras 5, 6, 7 fitted to the rear of the vehicle and on each door mirror. A view from any camera can be presented to the driver on a display 11. A predicted trailer path, calculated in a computing unit 10, is also presented to the driver on the display 11 as guide lines overlaid on the camera view. The computing unit 10 is also configured to calculate a hitch angle by tracking the position of a trailer-mounted marker in the camera view.
-
Citations
14 Claims
-
1. A system for determining a hitch angle of a trailer attached to a vehicle, comprising:
-
a rearward-looking video camera mounted on the vehicle and operable to capture images rearward of the vehicle; an image processor for processing the captured images and locating a marker on the trailer, wherein the marker comprises at least one of a mark, a sticker attached to the trailer and a vertical edge of the trailer; a computer determining the hitch angle between the vehicle and the trailer based on the located marker; and a display for displaying a trailer view visible to a driver of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
-
-
4. A system for determining a hitch angle of a trailer attached to a vehicle, comprising:
-
a rearward-looking video camera mounted on the vehicle and operable to capture images rearward of the vehicle; an image processor for processing the captured images and locating a marker on the trailer; a computer determining a hitch angle between the vehicle and the trailer based on the located marker; a display for displaying a trailer view visible to a driver of the vehicle; and a steering angle sensor for sensing a vehicle steering angle, wherein the computer further calculates a predicted path of a trailer from the hitch angle and the vehicle steering angle.
-
-
5. A method of determining a hitch angle of a trailer towed by a vehicle, comprising:
-
obtaining an image of a trailer towed by the vehicle with a rearward-looking video camera mounted to the vehicle; tracking a marker associated with the trailer in the image with an image processor, wherein the marker comprises at least one of a mark, a sticker attached to the trailer and a vertical edge of the trailer; determining with a computer the hitch angle between the vehicle and trailer based on the tracked marker; and displaying a view of the trailer on a display that is visible to a driver of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A method of predicting a path of a trailer attached to a vehicle, comprising:
-
measuring a vehicle steering angle; obtaining an image of the trailer with a rearward-looking video camera located on the vehicle; tracking a marker associated with the trailer in the image; determining a hitch angle between the vehicle and the trailer based on the tracked marker; sensing a vehicle steering angle; calculating a predicted path of the trailer from the hitch angle and the vehicle steering angle; and displaying the trailer image and the predicted trailer path on a display that is visible to a driver of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
-
Specification