Vehicle Control System

• US 20160152263A1
• Filed: 07/03/2014
• Published: 06/02/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/04/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jaguar Land Rover Limited (TATA Motors Limited)
• Original Assignee: Jaguar Land Rover Limited (TATA Motors Limited)
• Inventors: Singh, Harpreet, Bradley, Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 9,902,425 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2201/10 Automatic or semi-automatic parking aid systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2230/08 Driving in reverse
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 8/1708 for lorries or tractor-trailer combinations
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 13/06 for backing a normally drawn trailer
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/025 Active steering aids, e.g. helping the driver by actively influencing the steering system after environment evaluation B62D1/28 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 15/028 Guided parking by providing commands to the driver, e.g. acoustically or optically
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3407 specially adapted for specific applications

Abstract

The present invention relates to a vehicle control system (1) for controlling a vehicle (3) to facilitate reversing a trailer (5) coupled to the vehicle (3). The vehicle control system includes a processor (33) configured to receive a target trailer destination (D_TAR). The current position of the trailer (5) is determined by the processor (33). A target route (R) is then modelled to guide the trailer (5) from its current position to the target trailer destination (D_TAR). The processor (33) is configured to output a vehicle control signal to control the vehicle (3) to guide the trailer (5) along the target route (R). The invention also relates to a method of controlling a vehicle (3) to facilitate reversing a trailer (5).

Claims

1. A system for controlling a vehicle to facilitate reversing a trailer coupled to the vehicle, the system comprising a processor configured to:

receive a target trailer destination;

determine a current trailer position;

model a target route from the current trailer position to the target trailer destination; and

output a vehicle control signal for controlling the vehicle to guide the trailer along the target route.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the target trailer destination is specified by a user.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the target trailer destination comprises location data and/or orientation data.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the target route comprises one or more curves joining the current trailer position to the target trailer destination.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the vehicle control signal maps a center point of the trailer to the target route.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to identify permissible target trailer destinations.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to identify the permissible target trailer destinations based on a maximum permissible hitch angle, and/or a detected available space for the trailer, and/or a detected terrain parameter.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to receive image data from one or more video cameras disposed on the vehicle and/or the trailer.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the processor is configured to identify one or more obstructions proximal to the trailer and/or the vehicle.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the processor is configured to overlay the target trailer destination and/or a target route for the trailer on a video image from the one or more video cameras.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle control signal comprises a steering control signal for controlling a steering angle of the vehicle.

12. A vehicle comprising the claim 1.

13. A system for controlling a vehicle to facilitate reversing a trailer coupled to the vehicle, the system comprising a processor configured to:

generate a target route from a current trailer position to a target trailer destination by modifying a pre-defined path based on a determined angular offset and/or positional offset between the current trailer position and the target trailer destination.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the pre-defined path comprises first and second curves arranged in an S-shape.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor is configured to increase or decrease an included angle of one or both of the first and second curves in dependence on the angular offset.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured to define a minimum radius of curvature in the target route based on a jack-knife angle of the trailer.

18. A vehicle comprising the system of claim 13.

17. A method of controlling a vehicle to facilitate reversing a trailer to a specified target trailer destination, the method comprising:

receiving an input to define a target trailer destination;

determining a current trailer position;

modeling a target route from the current trailer position to the target trailer destination; and

outputting a vehicle control signal for controlling the vehicle to guide the trailer along the target route.

19. (canceled)