Provided is a vehicle coupling assistance device which is configured to select, in accordance with a physical quantity relating to an angle of a second coupling part of a trailer with respect to a first coupling part of a vehicle, as a steering angle control mode, any one of a first steering angle control mode in which a steering angle of front wheels of the vehicle and a steering angle of rear wheels of the vehicle are controlled to achieve the same steering angle and a second steering angle control mode f in which the steering angle of the front wheels and the steering angle of the rear wheels are controlled to achieve different steering angles, and to output steering angle control commands for executing control in the selected steering angle control mode to a front-wheel steering device and a rear-wheel steering device of the vehicle.

A steering system for an agricultural machine includes a first and second wheel assembly. Each wheel assembly includes an axle assembly including an axle, wheels rotatably connected to the axle, and a double-action hydraulic cylinder. In some embodiments, the double-action hydraulic cylinder is configured to pivot the wheels in either direction to indicate a direction of turn. In some embodiments, the double-action hydraulic cylinder of the first wheel assembly is hydraulically linked in its operation to an operation of the double-action hydraulic cylinder of the second wheel assembly.

A steering system for an agricultural machine includes a first and second wheel assembly. Each wheel assembly includes an axle assembly including an axle, wheels rotatably connected to the axle, and a double-action hydraulic cylinder. In some embodiments, the double-action hydraulic cylinder is configured to pivot the wheels in either direction to indicate a direction of turn. In some embodiments, the double-action hydraulic cylinder of the first wheel assembly is hydraulically linked in its operation to an operation of the double-action hydraulic cylinder of the second wheel assembly.

Methods and apparatus to control a vehicle trailer using torque vectoring are disclosed. An example apparatus to control a trailer of a vehicle includes condition determination circuitry to determine, based on data from sensors on at least one of the trailer or the vehicle, whether a condition associated with the vehicle is satisfied, and torque control circuitry to adjust, in response to the condition being satisfied, a first torque of a first motor and a second torque of a second motor, the first motor operatively coupled to a first wheel of the trailer, the second motor operatively coupled to a second wheel of the trailer.

The invention relates to a method of reducing or preventing lateral oscillations of at least one connected vehicle unit of a vehicle combination, the method comprising providing one or more parameters associated with a setup of the vehicle combination; determining, based on the one or more parameters, one or more critical frequencies having critical rearward amplification of a motion variable between the leading vehicle unit and the at least one connected vehicle unit; monitoring a steering input to the leading vehicle unit; determining whether the steering input excites any of the one or more critical frequencies; and automatically triggering a countermeasure for reducing or preventing lateral oscillations of the at least one connected vehicle unit upon determining that the steering input excites any of the one or more critical frequencies.

A vehicular trailer assist system includes a camera disposed at a vehicle and viewing at least a portion of a trailer hitched to the vehicle. A control, responsive to processing of frames of image data captured by the camera and during a calibration maneuver by the vehicle, determines an initial trailer template of trailer hitched to the vehicle. During a turning portion of the calibration maneuver, a subset of frames of image data is stored, each stored frame of image data including the trailer at a different trailer angle relative to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The control, responsive to storing the subset of frames of image data, converts each stored frame of image data to an edge image and matches each edge image to the determined initial trailer template, and determines a location of a hitch ball of the vehicle.

A vehicular trailer assist system includes a camera disposed at a vehicle and viewing at least a portion of a trailer hitched to the vehicle. A control, responsive to processing of frames of image data captured by the camera and during a calibration maneuver by the vehicle, determines an initial trailer template of trailer hitched to the vehicle. During a turning portion of the calibration maneuver, a subset of frames of image data is stored, each stored frame of image data including the trailer at a different trailer angle relative to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The control, responsive to storing the subset of frames of image data, converts each stored frame of image data to an edge image and matches each edge image to the determined initial trailer template, and determines a location of a hitch ball of the vehicle.

A method and system are described for controlled supplemental steering, by actuating a supplemental steering element, of a trailing implement connectable via a hitch to a pulling source, and wherein the trailing implement includes a pair of parallel wheels, a controller, a position sensing system that generates a hitch position history comprising a stored set of recent positions of the hitch point, and a steering angle actuator. The method carried out by the system includes maintaining a history of positions of the hitch, determining a target steering angle for the supplemental steering element, and actuating the steering angle actuator in accordance with the target steering angle. During the maintaining the history of positions of the hitch, the history of positions of the hitch is updated by performing a rotation operation and a translation operation on a set of coordinates of the history corresponding to previous hitch positions.

A method and system are described for controlled supplemental steering, by actuating a supplemental steering element, of a trailing implement connectable via a hitch to a pulling source, and wherein the trailing implement includes a pair of parallel wheels, a controller, a position sensing system that generates a hitch position history comprising a stored set of recent positions of the hitch point, and a steering angle actuator. The method carried out by the system includes maintaining a history of positions of the hitch, determining a target steering angle for the supplemental steering element, and actuating the steering angle actuator in accordance with the target steering angle. During the maintaining the history of positions of the hitch, the history of positions of the hitch is updated by performing a rotation operation and a translation operation on a set of coordinates of the history corresponding to previous hitch positions.

A steering control apparatus, a steering control method, and a steering control system according to the present invention output an instruction for generating a periodic yaw moment opposite in phase from an rolling motion occurring on a hitch vehicle including a vehicle and a trailer to a rear-wheel steering apparatus configured to control a steering angle of a rear wheel of the vehicle.