A trailer backup steering input apparatus is coupled to a vehicle. The trailer backup steering input apparatus comprises a rotatable control element (e.g., a knob) and a rotatable control element movement sensing device. The rotatable control element biased to an at-rest position between opposing rotational ranges of motion. The rotatable control element movement sensing device is coupled to the rotatable control element for sensing movement of the rotatable control element. The rotatable control element movement sensing device outputs a signal generated as a function of an amount of rotation of the rotatable control element with respect to the at-rest position, a rate movement of the rotatable control element, and/or a direction of movement of the rotatable control element with respect to the at-rest position.

An apparatus and method for controlling articulation of an articulated vehicle may prevent jackknifing of the articulated vehicle driven backwards. The apparatus includes a hitch angle calculator configured to calculate a desired hitch angle based on a steering angle and a speed of the articulated vehicle, an error calculator configured to calculate an error between the desired hitch angle and an actual hitch angle of the articulated vehicle, a moment generator configured to generate a moment for controlling the articulation of the articulated vehicle based on the error, and an articulation controller configured to control the articulation of the articulated vehicle based on the moment.

Detecting a damage angle between a vehicle and a trailer. One example system includes an electronic controller and a rear-view camera configured to obtain video of the trailer. The electronic controller is configured to receive the video of the trailer from the rear-view camera and determine a damage point based upon the video of the trailer. The electronic controller is further configured to determine a change in a rotation angle of the trailer and determine a changed location of the damage point of the trailer based upon the change in the rotation angle of the trailer. The electronic controller is also configured to determine a damage angle based upon the changed location of the damage point relative to the vehicle and determine at least one maneuver to avoid collision between the damage point and the vehicle based upon the damage angle.

The technology relates to autonomous vehicles having articulating sections such as the trailer of a tractor-trailer. Aspects include approaches for tracking the pose of the trailer, including its orientation relative to the tractor unit. Sensor data is analyzed from one or more onboard sensors to identify and track the pose. The pose information is usable by on-board perception and/or planning systems when driving the vehicle in an autonomous mode. By way of example, on-board sensors such as Lidar sensors are used to detect the real-time pose of the trailer based on Lidar point cloud data. The orientation of the trailer is estimated based on the point cloud data, and the pose is determined according to the orientation and other information about the trailer. Aspects also include determining which side of the trailer the sensor data is coming from. A camera may also detect trailer marking information to supplement the analysis.

One general aspect includes a system having a memory configured to include one or more executable instructions and a processor configured to execute the executable instructions, where the executable instructions enable the processor to estimate a rate of change of a hitch angle between a trailer and vehicle, the estimated rate of change of the hitch angle being based on a turn angle for a plurality of rear wheels of the vehicle as well as a speed of the vehicle.

A system according to the present disclosure includes an actuator control module and a damping ratio module. The actuator control module is configured to control an actuator of a vehicle to cause the vehicle to perform a yaw maneuver by rotating about its yaw axis. The damping ratio module is configured to determine a damping ratio based on an operating parameter measured during the yaw maneuver. The operating parameter includes at least one of a yaw rate of the vehicle, a yaw rate of a trailer connected to the vehicle, a lateral acceleration of the vehicle, a lateral acceleration of the trailer, a heading angle of the vehicle, and a hitch angle between a longitudinal axis of the vehicle and a longitudinal axis of the trailer.

The present invention refers to a method for controlling a distance of a vehicle (10) to a closest preceding vehicle (60), whereby the vehicle (10) has a trailer (12) connected thereto, comprising the steps of determining a velocity of the vehicle (10), detecting a closest preceding vehicle (60), determining a distance (62) to the closest preceding vehicle (60), and determining a safe distance based on the velocity of the vehicle (10) and the distance (62) to the closest preceding vehicle (60), wherein the method further comprises determining an extra safe distance based on at least one characteristic of the trailer (12), and performing a control of the distance (62) to the closest preceding vehicle (60) to stay above the safe distance plus the extra safe distance. The present invention also refers to a driving assistance system (14) for a vehicle (10), which is adapted to perform the above method. The present invention further refers to a vehicle (10) with an above driving assistance system (14).

Systems and methods for dynamic predictive control of autonomous vehicles are disclosed. In one aspect, an in-vehicle control system for a semi-truck includes one or more control mechanisms configured to control movement of the semi-truck and a processor. The system further includes computer-readable memory in communication with the processor and having stored thereon computer-executable instructions to cause the processor to receive a desired trajectory and a vehicle status of the semi-truck, determine a dynamic model of the semi-truck based on the desired trajectory and the vehicle status, determine at least one quadratic program (QP) problem based on the dynamic model, generate at least one control command for controlling the semi-truck by solving the at least one QP problem, and provide the at least one control command to the one or more control mechanisms.

A control system for a trailer or dolly, wherein the trailer or dolly comprises a perception sensor which is directed in a first travelling direction of the trailer or dolly and a coupling member for coupling with a vehicle further ahead in the first travelling direction, wherein the control system is configured to provide and/or use data from the sensor for a first control mode when the trailer or dolly is not coupled to the vehicle via the coupling member and to provide and/or use data from the sensor for a second control mode different from the first control mode when the trailer or dolly is coupled to the vehicle via the coupling member.

Methods and apparatus are provided for determining a hitch articulation angle including a camera for capturing a first image and a second image, a steering sensor configured to detect a steering angle, a velocity sensor configured to detect a vehicle velocity, a processor configured to for generating a bird's eye view of the first image and the second image through a perspective transform, generating a trailer hitch model from the first image in response to the steering angle and the vehicle velocity indicating a vehicle is traveling in a straight forward direction, generating a current hitch model from the second image, determining a hitch articulation angle in response to an angular difference between the trailer hitch model and the current hitch model, and a vehicle controller controlling the vehicle in response to the hitch articulation angle.