Vision-Based Trailer Presence Detection Using Feature Score Thresholds
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems for determining trailer presence are prone to false positives and negatives, affecting the accuracy of trailer-connected signals, which are crucial for stability control, state estimation, and autonomous vehicle operations.
Innovation Solution
A vision-based system using a rear view camera to capture frames and a trailer presence controller that calculates feature descriptors, match magnitudes, and feature scores to reliably determine trailer presence by comparing these scores to thresholds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If vision-based methods with feature matching are used to determine trailer presence, then measurement precision and reliability are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical or simple electrical sensors with a vision-based system using cameras and computer vision algorithms. The system captures images, extracts feature descriptors, and uses match magnitude calculations to determine trailer presence, substituting physical sensing mechanisms with optical and computational approaches to achieve higher measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a digital representation of visual features through feature descriptors and match magnitudes. By comparing these computational copies of visual information across different images, the system can accurately determine trailer presence without direct physical contact or complex mechanical sensing.
2Reliability
If feature matching algorithms are implemented to reduce false positives, then reliability is improved, but loss of time increases due to complex calculations
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary feature extraction and descriptor calculation on captured images before the actual comparison process. By pre-processing and organizing feature data in advance, the system reduces the computational burden during real-time trailer presence determination, thereby reducing processing time while maintaining high reliability through thorough feature matching.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus are disclosed for vision-based determining of trailer presence. An example vehicle includes a camera to capture a plurality of frames. The example vehicle also includes a controller to calculate feature descriptors for a set of features identified in a first frame, compute respective match magnitudes between the feature descriptors of the first frame and for a second frame, calculate respective feature scores for each feature of the set of features, and determine if a trailer is present by comparing a feature score of a feature to a threshold.