A method of operating a vehicle wherein the method comprises using a distance sensor to determine the distance between a part of the vehicle and an object, and implementing a speed control procedure if the distance detected by the distance sensor falls below a predetermined value, characterized in that the method is implemented only while the vehicle is in reverse gear and for a period of time immediately following disengagement of the reverse gear.

Systems and methods are disclosed for navigating a host vehicle. In one implementation, at least one processor may be programmed to receive images representative of an environment of the host vehicle; identify an oncoming target vehicle associated with a projected trajectory indicated by an aspect of the oncoming target vehicle in the images; determine that a planned trajectory for the host vehicle crosses the projected trajectory of the oncoming target vehicle and indicates a potential turn-across-path event; determine a remedial action for the host vehicle in response to the oncoming target vehicle and the potential turn-across-path event; implement the remedial action if the oncoming target vehicle is determined to be not approaching a road feature that negates the potential turn-across-path event; and forego the remedial action if the oncoming target vehicle is determined to be approaching a road feature that negates the potential turn-across-path event.

Methods, systems, and computer program products for navigating a vehicle are disclosed. The methods include extracting lane segment data associated with lane segments of a vector map that are within a region of interest, and analyzing the lane segment data and a heading of the vehicle to determine whether motion of the vehicle satisfies a condition. The condition can be associated with (i) an association between the heading of the vehicle and a direction of travel of a lane that corresponds to the current location of the vehicle and/or (ii) a minimum stopping distance to an imminent traffic control measure in the lane that corresponds to the current location of the vehicle. When the motion does not satisfy the condition, the methods include causing the vehicle to perform a motion correction.

An illustrative example method is for estimating a friction characteristic of a surface beneath a vehicle that has a plurality of wheels contacting the surface. The method includes determining a wheel speed of at least one of the wheels, determining a velocity of the at least one of the wheels separately from determining the wheel speed, determining a wheel slip of the at least one of the wheels based on the determined wheel speed and the determined velocity, and determining the friction characteristic based on the determined wheel slip. Determining the velocity separately from the wheel speed is accomplished using at least one detector that provides an output corresponding to a range rate, such as a RADAR or LIDAR detector.

The present invention discloses a backward anti-collision driving decision-making method for a heavy commercial vehicle. Firstly, a traffic environment model is established, and movement state information of a heavy commercial vehicle and a vehicle behind the heavy commercial vehicle is collected. Secondly, a backward collision risk assessment model based on backward distance collision time is established, and a backward collision risk is accurately quantified. Finally, a backward anti-collision driving decision-making problem is described as a Markov decision-making process under a certain reward function, a backward anti-collision driving decision-making model based on deep reinforcement learning is established, and an effective, reliable and adaptive backward anti-collision driving decision-making policy is obtained. The method provided by the present invention can overcome the defect of lack for research on the backward anti-collision driving decision-making policy for the heavy commercial vehicle in the existing method, can quantitatively output proper steering wheel angle and throttle opening control quantities, can provide effective and reliable backward anti-collision driving suggestions for a driver, and can reduce backward collision accidents.

The systems and methods disclosed herein are configured to determine if a trailer backup assist system is needed to assist a driver with a procedure to backup a trailer that is connected to a vehicle. The estimation of need for assistance may be determined by an assistance model. If assistance is needed, the systems and methods provide an input to initiate a process to enable the trailer backup assist system.

A refuse vehicle comprising a chassis, a body assembly coupled to the chassis, the body assembly defining a refuse compartment, one or more sensors coupled to the body and configured to provide data relating to the presence of an obstacle within an area near the refuse vehicle, a controller configured to receive the data from the one or more sensors, determine, using an obstacle detector and the data, the presence of an obstacle within the area and initiate a control action, wherein the control action includes at least one of controlling the movement of the refuse vehicle, controlling the movement of a lift assembly attached to the body assembly, or generating an alert.

There is provided a method and control system for limiting a driver acceleration request of a vehicle. The vehicle comprises a controller arrangement that receives a driver acceleration request and determines whether the driver acceleration request is below an acceleration threshold. If so, it initiates a limiting protocol and dependent on the distance between a preceding vehicle and the host vehicle limits the acceleration of the vehicle in comparison to the driver acceleration request. The invention further relates to a vehicle comprising such as control system.

A control device for a vehicle configured to travel in a one-pedal mode in which driving and braking are controlled in response to operations on only an accelerator pedal is configured to control a braking force of the vehicle by using deceleration maps in which decelerations in a plurality of traveling directions are set for any points based on traveling history data, and calculate, during traveling in the one-pedal mode, a deceleration level based on deceleration information associated with a current traveling direction and a current position of the vehicle among pieces of deceleration information included in the deceleration maps.

A RADAR system and associated methods are used to detect obstacles obscured from view when backing a trailer. An autonomous tractor is equipped with a rear facing RADAR device that has a field-of-view under the trailer and is configured to output RADAR returns from reflections. A controller of the tractor classifies RADAR returns from the RADAR device according to a number of reflections by a dock wall and a trailer face (e.g., a back end of the trailer) of a corresponding RADAR beam. The RADAR returns are correlated based on distance, and distance of a RADAR return from an obstacle is corrected based on the number of reflections. Advantageously, by processing RADAR returns from both direct and reflected RADAR beams, the controller is able to detect obstacles hidden behind the trailer and flag the obstacles as a hazard.