Trailer Rear-View Panning Using Elongated-Element Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing rear view systems, including mirrors and cameras, struggle to provide a natural and consistent panning experience when towing a trailer, often leading to distorted views and increased computational demands.
Innovation Solution
An automatic panning system that identifies an elongated element of the trailer, projects a vector, and establishes an interception point with a reference vector to achieve consistent panning, reducing computational requirements and enhancing accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the camera displays more of the surrounding area to maintain the same field of view as a traditional mirror, then the field of view is preserved, but the image resolution becomes insufficient to distinguish smaller objects
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic panning that automatically adjusts the displayed image section based on the trailer's real-time position and orientation. The camera captures a fixed wide-area image, and software dynamically crops and displays the relevant portion, allowing the field of view to remain large while maintaining high resolution for objects in the displayed area.
2Ease of operation
If manual panning control is implemented to allow user adjustment, then user control over the view is improved, but the operation becomes complex and inconvenient
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-service by automatically tracking the trailer and adjusting the panned image without user intervention. The computer vision system continuously analyzes the trailer's position and orientation, and the panning function automatically compensates to keep the trailer in the correct position in the displayed image, eliminating the need for manual control while maintaining ease of use.
3Extent of automation
If object recognition is used to track the trailer, then automatic tracking is achieved, but computational requirements and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-processing the captured image to enhance trailer features and pre-calculating the trailer's expected position based on vehicle motion. This preparation work is done before the actual tracking and panning operations, reducing the computational burden and processing time during real-time operation.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the panning system uses a recognized object as the rotation axis, then object-based tracking is achieved, but the panning becomes distorted when the object position varies
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal panning system that can adapt to different trailer types and configurations. Instead of relying on specific recognizable objects that may vary, the system uses the trailer's overall geometric features and position relative to the vehicle to determine the panning axis, ensuring consistent and undistorted panning across different trailer types while maintaining adaptability.
Data Source
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AI summary
An automatic panning system and method adapted for a vehicle with an attached trailer. The automatic panning system comprises an image capturing means adapted to capture image data with a view of the trailer and the automatic panning system is adapted to analyze the image data to identify at least one elongated element of the trailer, project a vector in the image data based on said elongated element, establish at least one reference vector, and identify an interception point of the reference vector and said projected vector.