System to automate hitching a trailer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11084345-B2
Application number	US-201916295028-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 7, 2019
Priority date	May 1, 2017
Publication date	Aug 10, 2021
Grant date	Aug 10, 2021

Abstract

A vehicle hitch assistance system includes comprising an imaging system, a steering system, a dead reckoning device and a controller. The controller determines a hitch location within a vehicle exterior image received from the imaging system and controls the steering system to guide the vehicle in a reverse direction to align a hitch ball of the vehicle with the hitch location, including by tracking the location of the vehicle using information received from the dead reckoning device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle hitch assistance system, comprising:
an imaging system;
a steering system;
a brake system;
a powertrain control system;
a dead reckoning device; and
a controller:
determining a hitch location within a vehicle exterior image received from the imaging system and determining a distance and angle between a hitch ball of the vehicle at an initial vehicle location and the hitch location; and
guiding the vehicle in a reverse direction to align the hitch ball of the vehicle with the hitch location including tracking a current location of the vehicle received from the dead reckoning device relative to the initial vehicle location and controlling the steering system, the powertrain control system and the brake system to cause the vehicle to move the hitch ball through the distance and at the angle between the hitch ball of the vehicle at the initial vehicle location and the hitch location.

2. The hitch assistance system of claim 1 , wherein:
the imaging system includes a plurality of cameras capturing images collectively surrounding the vehicle; and
the controller receives image data from each of the plurality of cameras and assembles the image data into the vehicle exterior image as an overhead view of an area surrounding the vehicle.

3. The hitch assistance system of claim 1 , further including a human-machine interface comprising a touchscreen, wherein:
the controller further displays the vehicle exterior image on the touchscreen and determines the hitch location by receiving a user-indication of the hitch location through an input on the touchscreen.

4. The hitch assistance system of claim 3 , wherein the controller further determines the hitch location by applying a coordinate system to the vehicle exterior image and correlating a location of the input on the touchscreen with the coordinate system.

5. The hitch assistance system of claim 3 , wherein the controller further determines the hitch location by processing the vehicle exterior image within an area adjacent a location of the input to identify a hitch within the area.

6. The hitch assistance system of claim 1 , further including a brake system and a throttle, wherein:
the controller further controls the brake system and throttle to cause movement of the vehicle in the reversing direction in conjunction with controlling the steering system to guide the vehicle to align the hitch ball of the vehicle with the hitch location.

7. The hitch assistance system of claim 6 , wherein the controller controls the brake system to stop the vehicle when the hitch ball of the vehicle is aligned with the hitch location.

8. The hitch assistance system of claim 1 , wherein:
the controller further derives a vehicle path to align a hitch ball of the vehicle with the hitch location; and
controlling the steering system to guide the vehicle in the reverse direction to align a hitch ball of the vehicle with the hitch location includes guiding the vehicle along the path.

9. A vehicle, comprising:
a camera capturing an image to a rear of the vehicle;
a vehicle positioning system;
a human-machine interface including a display; and
a controller:
presenting the image on the display;
receiving a user-indication of a hitch location through the human-machine interface and determining a distance and angle between a hitch ball of the vehicle at an initial vehicle location and the hitch location; and
guiding the vehicle in a reverse direction to align the hitch ball of the vehicle with the hitch location, including tracking a current location of the vehicle received from the positioning system relative to the initial vehicle location, to cause the vehicle to move the hitch ball through the distance and at the angle between the hitch ball of the vehicle at the initial vehicle location and the hitch location.

10. The vehicle of claim 9 , wherein:
the controller further derives a vehicle path to align a hitch ball of the vehicle with the hitch location; and
guiding the vehicle in the reverse direction to align the hitch ball of the vehicle with the hitch location includes guiding the vehicle along the path.

11. The vehicle of claim 10 , further comprising:
a steering system; and
wherein the controller further controls the steering system to guide the vehicle along the path including tracking the location of the vehicle using information received from the vehicle positioning system.

12. The vehicle of claim 9 , wherein the vehicle positioning system is a dead reckoning system.

13. The vehicle of claim 9 , wherein the display of the human-machine interface is a touchscreen, wherein:
the controller receives the user-indication of the hitch location through an input on the touchscreen.

14. The vehicle of claim 13 , wherein the controller further applies a coordinate system to the vehicle exterior image and correlates the user-indication of the hitch location on the touchscreen with the coordinate system.

15. The vehicle of claim 9 , wherein the controller further determines the hitch location by processing the image within an area adjacent a location of user-indication to identify a hitch within the area.

16. The vehicle of claim 9 , wherein:
the camera is one of a plurality of cameras capturing images collectively surrounding the vehicle; and
the controller further assembles image data received from each of the plurality of cameras into an overhead vehicle exterior image before presenting the image on the display.

17. A method for guiding a vehicle into alignment with a trailer hitch, comprising:
presenting a vehicle exterior image on a display within the vehicle;
receiving a user input indicating an area on the display;
correlating the area on the display with a coordinate system applied to the image, setting the input location as a hitch location, and determining a distance and angle between a hitch ball of the vehicle at an initial vehicle location and the hitch location; and
controlling a vehicle steering system to guide the vehicle to align a hitch ball of the vehicle with the hitch location, including tracking a current location of the vehicle, received from a vehicle positioning system, relative to the initial vehicle location, to cause the vehicle to move the hitch ball through the distance and at the angle between the hitch ball of the vehicle at the initial vehicle location and the hitch location.

18. The method of claim 17 , further including deriving a vehicle path to align a hitch ball of the vehicle with the hitch location, wherein:
controlling the vehicle steering system to guide the vehicle to align the hitch ball of the vehicle with the hitch location includes guiding the vehicle along the path.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the vehicle exterior image is an overhead image, the method further comprising:
capturing images collectively surrounding the vehicle using a plurality of cameras; and
assembling the image data into the vehicle exterior image.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein the display is a touchscreen and the user input is a touch input on the area of the display.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc
• Ford Global Tech Inc

Inventors

• Mattern Donald Jacob
• Tseng Hongtei Eric
• Shaw John Paul
• Plavcan Jill
• Yeung Lisa
• Pilutti Thomas Edward

Classifications

• B60W30/18036

  Reversing · CPC title

• B60D1/06

  Ball-and-socket hitches · CPC title

• B60R2300/105

  using multiple cameras · CPC title

• B60W10/18

  including control of braking systems · CPC title

• B60W10/04

  including control of propulsion units · CPC title