Trailer Lane Keeping via Reconstructed Sensor Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicles equipped to tow trailers often fail to provide optimal control and maintain the vehicle and trailer within a lane, especially in challenging situations.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize onboard sensors and processors to calculate time to lane crossing values for both the vehicle and trailer, reconstruct lane markings, and provide corrective steering or braking to keep the vehicle and trailer within the lane, without the need for additional sensors on the trailer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If additional sensors are installed on the trailer to improve lane keeping accuracy, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the lane marking information from the vehicle's perspective and transforms it to the trailer's reference frame. Instead of installing physical sensors on the trailer, the system reconstructs lane marking data using the vehicle's camera feed and mathematical transformations based on hitch angle and relative positioning, achieving accurate trailer lane position detection without additional hardware
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the vehicle's existing camera and processor as intermediaries to obtain trailer lane position information. The vehicle camera captures lane markings, the processor reconstructs and transforms this data to the trailer's perspective, effectively using the vehicle's sensing capabilities as a mediator to provide trailer-specific lane keeping data without modifying the trailer
2Reliability
If the system controls both vehicle and trailer operations to maintain lane position, then lane keeping reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the vehicle and trailer control functions into a unified system. The single processor calculates TTLC for both vehicle and trailer, determines lane crossing risks for both, and coordinates control actions that consider the coupled dynamics of the vehicle-trailer combination, improving overall lane keeping reliability through integrated control rather than separate independent systems
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors lane position, calculates time-to-lane-crossing values, and adjusts vehicle and trailer control inputs based on this feedback. The processor uses real-time data about lane marker position, vehicle-trailer relative position, and predicted lane crossing timing to dynamically adjust steering and braking, creating a closed-loop control system that adapts to changing conditions
3Measurement precision
If the system calculates separate TTLC values for vehicle and trailer, then lane departure detection accuracy is improved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary calculations of vehicle and trailer positions, velocities, and trajectories using current sensor data and articulated vehicle dynamics models. By pre-calculating these parameters and maintaining ready-computed values, the system reduces the real-time processing burden when determining TTLC values, enabling accurate separate calculations for both vehicle and trailer without excessive processing delays
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems are provided for a vehicle towing a trailer within a lane of a roadway that include: reconstructing, via a processor onboard the vehicle, lane markings for the trailer using lane markers as sensed via camera data; transforming the reconstructed lane markings, using additional sensor data, to a perspective of the trailer; localizing the trailer within the transformed lane markers using historical camera lane marking information, articulated vehicle dynamics, hitch angle, and trailer dimensions, without needing to add additional trailer lane sensing cameras to the trailer; calculating a time to lane crossing (T-TTLC) value for the trailer and vehicle; generating candidate blended paths of the trailer and the vehicle with a centerline of the lane of the roadway; and controlling operation of the vehicle, the trailer, or both, via instructions provided by the processor to keep the vehicle, the trailer, or both within a lane of travel.