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 camera operable to capture images rearward of the vehicle;
an image processor processing the captured images and locating a position of a marker on the trailer; and
a computer determining the hitch angle between the vehicle and the trailer based on the position of the located marker.
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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.
722 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for determining a hitch angle of a trailer attached to a vehicle, comprising:
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a camera operable to capture images rearward of the vehicle; an image processor processing the captured images and locating a position of a marker on the trailer; and a computer determining the hitch angle between the vehicle and the trailer based on the position of the located marker. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of determining a hitch angle of a trailer towed by a vehicle, comprising:
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obtaining an image of a trailer towed by the vehicle with a camera; tracking a position of a marker associated with the trailer in the image with an image processor; and determining with a computer the hitch angle between the vehicle and trailer based on the position of the marker. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of predicting a path of a trailer attached to a vehicle, comprising:
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measuring a vehicle steering angle; obtaining an image of the trailer with a video camera; tracking a position of a marker associated with the trailer in the image using an image processor; determining a hitch angle between the vehicle and trailer based on the position of the marker using a computer; and calculating a predicted path of the trailer from the hitch angle and vehicle steering angle using the computer. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification