Method and system for calculating and monitoring trailer sizes

Abstract

Vehicle system that calculates a trailer size with: a plurality of sensors (108d, 108e) mounted on a vehicle (102) and configured to detect objects external to the vehicle and provide trailer data indicative of a trailer position behind a vehicle; a memory configured to manage a virtual grid (200) having a plurality of cells (202); a control device (112) in connection with the sensors and the memory, which is arranged to: determine an occupancy frequency for each of the plurality of cells based on the trailer data obtained within a predefined period of time, the occupancy frequency being an increment of each time an object is detected within the respective cell; to determine a threshold distribution based on the occupancy frequency of each cell; and to determine a trailer size based on the cells with an occupancy frequency that exceeds the threshold distribution.

Description

The disclosure relates to methods and systems for calculating and monitoring trailer sizes.In conjunction with vehicle advanced driver assistance systems ("ADAS"), vehicles include various sensors inside and outside the vehicle. These sensors may provide data that may be used by various vehicle systems to provide functions to the user. These functions may include parking assist, bird's eye views, pedestrian protection systems, and more particularly blind spot monitor (BSM), lane departure warning (LDW) and lane change assist (LCA). However, these functions may be less accurate or unsuitable in the event a trailer is attached to a vehicle.US 2018 / 0 203 106 A1 discloses a system for automatically detecting a trailer on a vehicle. This takes place there by evaluating the data of a radar system.A vehicle system for computing a trailer size may include a plurality of sensors mounted on a vehicle and configured to detect objects external to the vehicle and provide trailer data indicative of a trailer position behind a vehicle, and a memory configured to manage a virtual grid having a plurality of cells. The system may also include a controller in communication with the sensors and the memory and configured to determine an occupancy frequency for each of the plurality of cells based on the trailer data obtained within a predefined time period, the occupancy frequency being an increment each time an object has been detected within the respective cell; the system may also be configured to determine a threshold distribution based on the occupancy frequency of each cell; and the system may be configured to determine a trailer size based on the cells having an occupancy frequency that exceeds the threshold distribution.A non-transitory computer readable medium containing structurally embodied computer readable instructions for a software program, the software program executable by a processing device of a computing device to provide the following operations: receiving trailer data indicative of a trailer position behind a vehicle; generating a virtual grid having a plurality of cells, each cell having a continuously updated occupancy frequency based on the trailer data; determining a threshold distribution between the occupancy frequencies of the cells based on the occupancy frequency of each cell; and determining a trailer size based on the cells having an occupancy frequency that exceeds the threshold distribution.A method may be provided with: receiving the trailer data indicative of a trailer position behind a vehicle; generating a virtual grid having a plurality of cells, each cell having a continuously updated occupancy frequency based on the trailer data; determining a threshold distribution between the occupancy frequencies of the cells based on the occupancy frequency of each cell; and determining a trailer size based on the cells having an occupancy frequency that exceeds the threshold distribution.The embodiments of the disclosure are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. However, other features of the various embodiments will be described in more detail with reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The following are shown: FIG. 1 is an exemplary top view of the vehicle trailer system; FIG. 2A is an exemplary top view of the vehicle trailer system with the trailer in a first position; FIG. 2B is an exemplary top view of the vehicle trailer system with the trailer at a second, offset position; FIG. 2C illustrates an example occupancy frequency graph of the grid of FIGS. 2A and 2B ; and FIG. 3 illustrates example processing of the trailer system of FIG. 1.Embodiments of the disclosure will be described below. It is to be understood, however, that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples and other embodiments may take various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the exemplary embodiments. As those skilled in the art will understand, various features shown and described with reference to one of the figures may be combined with features shown in one or more other figures to produce embodiments that are not expressly shown or described. The combinations of features shown represent representative exemplary embodiments for typical applications. However, various combinations and modifications of the features consistent with the teachings of this disclosure could be desirable for particular applications or implementations.Vehicle sensors may be used to determine the size and position of towable vehicles, such as trailers. Typically, these systems select the extreme destination corresponding to the trailer and calculate the trailer width based on these destinations. These calculations may be used for other vehicle features, such as blind spot monitoring, lane keeping warning, etc.However, these sensors may detect objects other than trailers, such as guardrails, trees, other vehicles, etc. This may be particularly the case when the towable vehicle turns, or a fixed object such as a wall or guardrail, or even a moving object whose speed is low at the front of the towing vehicle. In order to detect the hitch angle during turning, further cost-intensive sensors are required.Disclosed below is a method and system for calculating and monitoring trailer sizes. The disclosed system uses pre-existing sensors to calculate a trailer size and allows continuous monitoring without compromising accuracy. The system may determine trailer data from at least two rear vehicle sensors. The system can then generate and identify a virtual grid in which cells of the grid the trailer is present. The cells with the highest occupancy distribution may be determined to generate a template of the trailer, and thereby the trailer size may be generated based on the cells with the highest distribution. This distribution can be saved in memory. Follow-up monitoring of the trailer can still occur. The distribution of this subsequent monitoring can be compared with the previous monitoring. If the difference in distribution exceeds a predefined difference, the system may issue an alarm. The alarm may include alarms such as lane departure, a violation of the trailer size, etc. The alert may also include sharing the difference in distribution with other ADAS vehicles, such as a land departure warning, lane change assist, etc.FIG. 1 shows an example top view of a trailer system 100 having a trailer size application 110 within a vehicle 102. The trailer system 100 may be an advanced driver assistance system for vehicles (ADAS). The trailer system 100 may include a plurality of sensors 108 a- 108 g(collectively referred to as sensors 108). The sensors 108 may include various cameras, LIDAR sensors, radar sensors, ultrasonic sensors, or other sensors for sensing information about the environment of the vehicle, for example including other vehicles, roadway lines, guardrails, objects on the route, buildings, pedestrians, etc. Each of the sensors may be mounted at a location around the vehicle 102 to determine data for a particular field of view.The vehicle 102 may be configured to tow or tow a trailer 150, or other similar devices. The trailer may be any type of trailer, such as an open trailer, a closed utility trailer, a recreational vehicle, horse trailer, etc.The sensors 108 may be in communication with the trailer size application 110. The trailer size application 110 may be included in a controller 112. The controller 112 may be a vehicle controller such as an electronic control unit (ECU). The controller 112 may be embodied in a processing device configured to execute instructions of the method and system described herein. The controller 112 may include memory (not explicitly shown in FIG. 1 ), as well as other components of certain processing within the vehicle. The controller 112 may be one or more computing devices, such as a quad-core processor for processing instructions, such as a computer processor, a microprocessor or other device, a number of devices, or other mechanisms capable of performing the operations described herein. The memory may store instructions and instructions. The instructions may be in the form of software, firmware, computer code, or a combination thereof. The memory may be in any form of one or more data storage devices, such as volatile memory, nonvolatile memory, electronic memory, magnetic memory, optical memory, or any other form of data storage devices. In one example, memory 2 may include GB DDR3, as well as other removable memory components such as a 128 GB micro-SD card.The sensors 108 may provide sensor data to the trailer size application 110. The trailer size application 110, in turn, may use the data to generate certain vehicle functions, such as parking assist functions, blind spot detection functions, bird's eye view, etc. The sensors 108, particularly the rear sensors 108 dand 108 e, may provide data regarding a trailer 150 or other type of device following the vehicle 102. The trailer size application 110 may communicate with the sensors 108 via wired or wireless communication. The trailer size application 110 may also communicate with other vehicle systems, such as a vehicle display 120.The vehicle display 120 may include a visual display within the vehicle center console. The vehicle display device 120 may be a head-up display, a dashboard display, etc. The vehicle display 120 may display certain user interfaces and images relating to the sensor data provided to the controller 112. For example, the vehicle display 120 may display certain warnings or alarms regarding the trailer 150, etc.The vehicle 102 may also include a vehicle audio system 116. The vehicle audio system may include at least one microphone and at least one speaker. The speaker may be configured to transmit sounds therefrom, e.g., from the car radio of the vehicle, from the user's phone, etc. The speaker may also output an audible alarm related to the fob 150.The trailer size application 110 may receive data from the sensors 108, particularly from the rear sensors 108 d, 108 e. The rear sensors 108 d, 108 emay be mounted to the rear of the vehicle and may be capable of sensing objects behind the vehicle or objects mounted near the rear of the vehicle. In an example, the rear sensors 108 d, 108 emay be configured to detect the trailer 150. In particular, the sensors 108 d, 108 emay be configured to provide trailer data to the controller 112 such that the controller 112 may determine the size of the trailer 150.FIGS. 2A-2C show example top views of the vehicle trailer system 100 with the trailer 150 disposed on a virtual grid 200. The grid 200 may include a plurality of parallel and spaced apart lines that cross to produce a series of rectangular or square cells 202. In the example shown in FIGS. 2A-2C, at least 4 horizontal lines and 6 vertical lines are shown to build a total of 24 cells 202 within grid 200. As shown in FIG. 2A, tag 150 may "occupy" at least a portion of a plurality of cells 202. The grid 200 may be managed by the controller 112 and more or fewer cells 202 may be present.The controller 112 may manage a database of the cells 202. The controller 112 may determine the location of the trailer 150 with respect to the cells based on the trailer data provided by the rear sensors 108 d, 108 e. For example, the fob data may indicate which of the cells 202 are currently "occupied" by the fob. The rear sensors 108 d, 108 emay be capable of determining the presence of an object, such as the trailer, and transmitting the presence indicative data, such as the distance from the vehicle 102, etc., to the controller 112. The controller 112, in turn, may determine which cells 202 are occupied based on the distance. The controller 112 may form the grid 200 to be mounted behind the vehicle 102 at a fixed location. Thus, the location of the cells 202 relative to the vehicle does not change as the fob data is received over time.In the example in FIG. 2A, all cells B2-3, C1-3, D1-3, E1-3, F1-3, and G2-3 may be occupied. This example may indicate the location of the trailer 150 when the car 102 is parked or is travelling substantially straight ahead.In addition to determining the current trailer size, the controller 112 may set an allowable or valid trailer size. The valid trailer size may be that permitted by local laws or regulations. The valid trailer size may be that defined by the vehicle tow specifications. An example trailer size 208 is shown in FIG. 2A. Everything beyond this valid trailer size 208 may be considered an invalid trailer size and the controller 112 may issue a warning to the driver.FIG. 2B shows an example of the vehicle 102 and the trailer 150, where the trailer 150 is disposed at an angle to the vehicle 102. This may be the case when the vehicle 102 makes a turn. When the vehicle 102 makes a turn, the rear sensors 108 d, 108 eare able to detect the trailer 150 offset from the original surface detected in FIG. 2A. The sensors 108 d, 108 eare able to detect the tag 150 to occupy cells A 2- 3.During operation of the vehicle 102 and subsequent tow of the trailer 150, the rear sensors 108 d, 108 eare able to continuously sense the presence of the trailer 150 behind the vehicle 102 and send the trailer data to the controller 112. The control device 112 can in turn continuously manage the database of the occupancy of the trailer 150 with respect to the cells. That is, the controller 112 may manage the number of times the fob 150 occupies a particular cell by increasing it each time an object is detected in that cell. The cells with the highest occupancy frequency may be determined to form the calculated fob. The calculated trailer may be determined by those cells 202 that are the highest frequency or most occupied during monitoring of the trailer 150 by the rear sensors 108 d, 108 e. Notably, the typical position of the trailer 150 may be directly behind the vehicle 102, as shown in the example in FIG. 2A. Temporarily, the fob 150 may occupy other cells during the turn that are not normally occupied during a straight travel route. When this occurs, the frequency for these cells (e.g., A2-3) in the database is increased. If this frequency continues to increase over a certain period of time, then the controller 112 may determine that the vehicle 102 is no longer turning but instead deviates from the lane. In this situation, the controller 112 may inform the driver of the departure from the driving lane so that the driver may be or correct driving.FIG. 2C shows an example of a frequency count or increment of the occupancy of the cells during trailer monitoring. As shown, cells B2-3, C1-4, D1-4, E1-4, F1-4 and G2-3 have a higher frequency than the remaining cells. Some cells may include a low occupancy frequency. This occupancy may be caused by the turning of the trailer. Additionally or alternatively, this frequency may be caused by an object not related to the trailer 150. These objects may be objects detected alongside and outside the vehicle, such as trees, guardrails, etc. Among conventional trailer size detection systems, such an object may result in trailer size computations being inaccurate.The controller 112 may determine a calculated trailer size 212 by evaluating the range of the distribution of occupancy frequency in each cell. The controller 112 may determine which cells have a similar distribution of occupancy frequencies. That is, which cells contain the highest frequency within a deviation from each other. In the example in FIG. 2C, cells B2-3, C1-4, D1-4, E1-4, F1-4, and G2-3 all have higher and similar frequencies. The remaining cells have all frequencies which deviate greatly from these cells.The controller 112 may set a threshold distribution. This threshold may change when the trailer data is gathered. The more frequencies recorded, the higher the threshold distribution. For example, the more tag data gathered, the more frequencies will be detected in the different cells. These frequencies may indicate that tag 150 occupies the same cells, which raises the frequency of those cells. However, since the vehicle 102 continues to drive and collect the trailer data, in addition to the trailer occupancy, the number of turns and the number of external objects that may be incorrectly recognized may also increase. A low threshold distribution may result in these erroneous samples being included in the determination of the tag size. As the amount of trailer data increases, as does the threshold distribution to increase the accuracy of the computations.If the controller 112 determines that the calculated trailer size exceeds the valid trailer size 208, the controller 112 may instruct the vehicle 102 to alert the user. This alarm may be in the form of a visual alarm via the display device 120 and / or an audible alarm via the audio system 116, as explained above.FIG. 3 shows example processing 300 for the trailer system 100 The example processing 300 may begin at block 305, at which the controller 112 may receive the trailer data. As explained above, the trailer data may include data from the rear sensors 108 d, 108 e. This data may indicate the presence and location / location of the trailer 150.At block 307, controller 112 may determine whether certain driving conditions are met. These driving conditions may include a certain speed, turn, etc., and may ensure that the trailer data is included in the size determination. These are conditions for determining whether to use and store the distribution information. For example, the sensors only detect the trailer and / or calculate the trailer size if the vehicle speed is higher than 5 km / h. In another example, the system may temporarily suspend occupancy data if the turn is too small because the trailer is out of view of the sensor. If the driving conditions are met, the processing device 300 may proceed to block 310. Otherwise, the processing device 300 may return to block 315.At block 310, the controller 112 may determine which cells 202 of the virtual grid 200 the fob 150 occupies based on the fob data. For each occupied cell, the occupancy frequency increases as managed by the controller 112.At block 315, the controller 112 may determine a threshold distribution based on the distribution of frequencies. The threshold distribution may be a difference between the occupancy frequency of the cells having an occupancy frequency different by a predefined high threshold and the occupancy frequency of the cells having a low occupancy frequency different by a predefined low threshold. For example, the threshold distribution may be a difference between the occupancy frequency of the high occupancy cells (e.g., cells B2-3, C1-4, D1-4, E1-4, F1-4, and G2-3) and the low occupancy cells (A2-3 and H2-3, and A1, A4, B1, B4, G1, H1, and H4, which have a frequency of 0. As explained above, the more data there is, the higher the threshold distribution. For example, if a small number of data have been gathered, such as 10 examples, then the threshold distribution is correspondingly low, such as 2. in contrast, if a large number of data have been gathered, such as 500 examples, then the threshold distribution is correspondingly high, such as 25.The distribution may be determined by determining the distribution variation by a percentage of the difference such that the threshold may be consistent. Additionally or alternatively, the control device 112 can detect a predefined number of objects or assignments within a predefined time period. For example, controller 112 may detect a maximum number of objects of 10 within 1 second (e.g., one system cycle). In this example, if 8 or more objects are detected in a cell, then it is determined that the cell has a frequency rate of 0.8. This can be considered as a high frequency rate based on a high frequency threshold set to 0.8 or higher.Once the distribution is established, the distribution over time may be evaluated to determine, for example, stability, as discussed at block 340.The threshold distribution may then be used to determine a first range of the trailer. The first range may represent the cells at a frequency exceeding the threshold distribution or the cells at a high frequency rate.At block 325, the controller 112 may determine the calculated trailer size based on the first range. That is, it is determined which cells 202 have the highest frequency within the threshold distribution.At block 330, the controller 112 may receive subsequent trailer data. The subsequent trailer data may be similar to the first trailer data in that the rear sensor 108 d, 108 eprovide the trailer information to the controller 112.At block 335, the controller 112 may determine a second or subsequent trailer range based on the subsequent trailer data. The subsequent range may be a distribution of occupancy frequency based on the recently received trailer data. That is, if the fob data indicates a change in occupancy of the cells 202, the frequency distribution may also change. For example, over a predefined stability time threshold of 48 seconds, the controller 112 may determine whether it is a trailer occupancy fraction, or simply a disturbance caused by guardrails, walls, etc. If the occupancy frequency is 0.8 or more for a duration of 48 seconds, then the occupancy frequency may determine a change in trailer size or an error.At block 340, the controller 112 may determine whether the difference between the first range and the second range exceeds a predefined difference. The predefined difference is, for example, a distribution of 0.2. By exceeding the predefined difference, the control device 112 can detect a lane violation by the driver (e.g. continuously crossing the trailer 150 of a lane). Additionally or alternatively, exceeding the predefined difference may indicate an invalid trailer size. If the difference exceeds the predefined difference, the processing device 300 continues to block 345. If not, the processing device 300 continues to monitor the trailer data provided by the rear sensors 108 d, 108 e.At block 345, the controller 112 may instruct the vehicle 102 to alert the driver due to the change in distribution via the display 120 or the audio system 116. The change in distribution may indicate an error in the calculated trailer size, or an error in the data provided by the rear sensors 108 d, 108 e, etc.Computing devices, such as the controller processing devices, servers, sensors, etc., generally include computer-executable instructions, where the instructions may be executable by one or more computing devices such as those mentioned above. Computer-executable instructions may be compiled or interpreted from computer programs created using a variety of programming languages and / or technologies, including, but not limited to, Java (registered trademark) C, C++, Visual Basic, Java Script, Perl, etc. In general, a processing device (e.g., a microprocessor) receives instructions, e.g., from a memory, a computer-readable medium, etc., and executes these instructions so as to execute one or more processings, including one or more of the processings described herein. These instructions and other data may be stored and transmitted on a variety of computer readable media.Databases, data repository, or other data stores described herein may include various types of mechanisms for storing, accessing, and retrieving data, including a hierarchical database, a data set in a file system, an application database in a protected format, a relational database management system (RDBMS), etc. Each of these data stores is generally included in a computing device that uses a computer operating system such as one of the foregoing, and is enabled over a network and one or more of the most varied types of access. A file system may be accessible to a computer operating system and store the files in various formats. An RDBMS typically employs the Structure Query Language (SQL) in addition to the language for creating, storing, editing, and executing stored procedures, such as the PL / SQL language mentioned above.In some examples, system elements may be implemented as computer readable instructions (e.g., software) on one or more computing devices (e.g., servers, personal computers, etc.) stored on computer readable media associated therewith (e.g., hard drives, memories, etc.). A computer program product may include such instructions stored on computer readable media for performing the functions described herein.While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms encompassed by the claims. The words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. As already described, the features of various embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the invention, which may not be explicitly described or illustrated. While various embodiments may have been described as having advantages or being preferred over other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more desired features, those of ordinary skill in the art recognize that one or more features or characteristics may be compromised to achieve desired overall system attributes, which depend on the specific application and implementation. These attributes may include, but are not limited to, cost, strength, durability, life cycle cost, marketability, appearance, packaging, size, utility, weight, mullibility, ease of assembly, etc. Inasmuch as embodiments are described as less desirable than other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more features, these embodiments are not outside the scope of the disclosure and may be desirable for particular applications.

Claims

A vehicle system that calculates a trailer size, comprising: a plurality of sensors (108d, 108e) mounted on a vehicle (102) and configured to detect objects outside the vehicle and provide trailer data indicative of a trailer position behind a vehicle; a memory configured to manage a virtual grid (200) having a plurality of cells (202); a controller (112) in communication with the sensors and the memory configured to: determine, based on the trailer data obtained within a predefined time period, an occupancy frequency for each of the plurality of cells, wherein the occupancy frequency is an increment of each time an object is detected within the respective cell; determine, based on the occupancy frequency of each cell, a threshold distribution; and based on the cells having an occupancy frequency exceeding the threshold distribution, determine a trailer size.The vehicle system according to claim 1, wherein the threshold distribution is a difference between the occupancy frequency of the cells having an occupancy frequency exceeding a high occupancy frequency and the occupancy frequency of the cells having a low occupancy frequency lower than the high threshold.The vehicle system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the controller is further configured to receive subsequent trailer data and determine, based on the subsequent trailer data, a subsequent occupancy frequency for each cell over a subsequent time period after the predefined time period.The vehicle system of claim 3, wherein the controller is further configured to determine whether the difference between the occupancy frequency of the trailer data and the occupancy frequency of the subsequent trailer data exceeds a predefined difference.The vehicle system of claim 4, wherein the controller is further configured to trigger an alarm in response to the difference between the occupancy frequency of the trailer data and the occupancy frequency of the subsequent trailer data exceeding the predefined difference.The vehicle system of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the sensors include a pair of sensors mounted at each rear corner of the vehicle.The vehicle system of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the controller is further configured to hold a valid trailer size and compare the valid trailer size to the calculated trailer size.A non-transitory computer readable medium containing structurally embodied computer readable instructions for a software program, the software program executable by a processing device of a computing device to provide the following operations: receiving trailer data indicative of a trailer position behind a vehicle (102); generating a virtual grid (200) having a plurality of cells (202), each cell having a continuously updated occupancy frequency based on the trailer data; determining a threshold distribution between the occupancy frequencies of the cells based on the occupancy frequency of each cell; and determining a trailer size based on the cells having an occupancy frequency exceeding the threshold distribution.The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 8, wherein the threshold distribution is a difference between the occupancy frequency of the cells having a high occupancy frequency and the occupancy frequency of the cells having a low occupancy frequency lower than the high threshold.The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9, further comprising receiving subsequent tag data and, based on the subsequent tag data, determining a subsequent occupancy frequency for each cell.The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10, further comprising determining whether the difference between the occupancy frequency of the trailer data and the occupancy frequency of the subsequent trailer data exceeds a predefined difference.The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, further comprising issuing an alarm in response to the difference between the occupancy frequency of the trailer data and the occupancy frequency of the subsequent trailer data exceeding a predefined difference.The non-transitory computer readable medium of any of claims 8 to 12, wherein the trailer data is obtained from a rear vehicle sensor pair (108d, 108e).The non-transitory computer readable medium of any of claims 8 to 13, further comprising comparing a valid trailer size to the calculated trailer size.A method for computing a trailer size, comprising: receiving trailer data indicative of a trailer position behind a vehicle (102); generating a virtual grid (200) having a plurality of cells (202), each cell having a continuously updated occupancy frequency based on the trailer data; determining a threshold distribution between the occupancy frequencies of the cells based on the occupancy frequency of each cell; and determining a trailer size based on the cells having an occupancy frequency that exceeds the threshold distribution.The method according to claim 15, wherein the threshold distribution is a difference between the occupancy frequency of the cells having a high occupancy frequency and the occupancy frequency of the cells having a low occupancy frequency lower than the high threshold.The method of claim 15 or 16, further comprising receiving subsequent trailer data and, based on the subsequent trailer data, determining a subsequent occupancy frequency for each cell.The method of claim 17, further comprising determining whether the difference between the occupancy frequency of the trailer data and the occupancy frequency of the subsequent trailer data exceeds a predefined difference.The method of claim 18, further comprising issuing an alarm in response to the difference between the occupancy frequency of the trailer data and the occupancy frequency of the subsequent trailer data exceeding a predefined difference.The method of claim 19, further comprising comparing a valid trailer size to the calculated trailer size.

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