A vehicle has a trailer backup steering input apparatus, a trailer backup assist control module coupled to the a trailer backup steering input apparatus, and an electric power assist steering system coupled to the trailer backup assist control module and. The trailer backup steering input apparatus is configured for outputting a trailer path curvature signal approximating a desired curvature for a path of travel of a trailer towably coupled to the vehicle. The trailer backup assist control module is configured for determining vehicle steering information as a function of the trailer path curvature signal. The electric power assist steering system is configured for controlling steering of steered wheels of the vehicle as a function of the vehicle steering information.

A deceleration turning assistance device, includes: braking devices respectively provided at each of a left wheel and a right wheel of a towed vehicle that is configured to be pivotably coupled to a towing vehicle via a coupling portion; and a braking force difference generating portion that, in a case of decelerated turning in a state in which the towed vehicle is coupled to the towing vehicle, is configured to generate a left-right braking force difference between the braking devices in accordance with a hitch angle between the towing vehicle and the towed vehicle so as to decrease the hitch angle.

A method for ascertaining a relative angle between a first longitudinal axis of a towing vehicle and a second longitudinal axis of a vehicle that is mechanically coupled to the towing vehicle, including: detecting a light unit situated at the vehicle using a camera unit situated at the towing vehicle to obtain image information of the light unit; recognizing the light unit in the obtained image information, using an optical signal that is emitted by the detected light unit to obtain position information of the light unit, the position information representing a spatial position of the light unit in the image information relative to a defined reference point; ascertaining the relative angle between the first longitudinal axis of the towing vehicle and the second longitudinal axis of the vehicle, using the position information of the detected light unit; and emitting a signal as a function of the ascertained relative angle.

The present disclosure provides an emergency braking system, an emergency braking method and a semitrailer, capable of improving the braking effect of the vehicle, thereby achieving improved safety for the vehicle. The system includes: a sensor component configured to collect sensed information on an environment where a semitrailer is located; and a braking controller configured to determine whether there is a risk of collision for the semitrailer based on the sensed information, and if so, calculate a maximum adhesive force that can be provided by a road surface the semitrailer is currently on, determine a first braking pressure corresponding to each wheel based on the maximum adhesive force and axle load information, and transmit to a braking system a first braking instruction carrying the first braking pressure for each wheel.

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.

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.

The present disclosure provides a rear wheel steering (RWS) control method and system for a cargo trailer. The RWS control method may include determining a driving mode of a vehicle connected to the cargo trailer, executing an RWS control logic of the cargo trailer based on the driving mode and an input signal from the vehicle corresponding to the driving mode, and performing RWS control for the cargo trailer based on the RWS control logic.

The disclosure relates to a method for reversing a vehicle combination (1) comprising a towing vehicle (10) and at least one trailer (20), said method comprising: (S10) reversing the vehicle combination, (S20) determining whether a jack-knifing condition (J) is about to occur by comparing a predicted future estimate of the articulation angle (Φ) with a maximum safe articulation angle (Φ.sub.lim), wherein the maximum safe articulation angle (Φ.sub.lim) is estimated according to the first aspect of the invention, and when it is determined that the jack-knifing condition (J) is about to occur, perform at least one of the following steps: (S30) issue a warning signal, and (S40) initiate a braking action for the vehicle combination, wherein the predicted future estimate of the articulation angle (Φ) is based on an estimated driver reaction time for initiating a braking action.

A system for assisting in aligning a vehicle for hitching with a trailer includes an imager outputting image data of a field of view to the rear of the vehicle and a controller identifying at least one of a trailer or a coupler of the trailer within the image data. The controller further determines that the at least one of the trailer or the coupler is outside of a specified area relative to the vehicle and outputs an instruction for movement of the vehicle determined to position the one of the trailer or the coupler within the specified area. Upon determining that the at least one of the coupler and the trailer is within the specified area, the coupler outputs a steering signal to the vehicle to cause the vehicle to steer to align a hitch ball of the vehicle with the coupler.

A towing vehicle control device includes: a computation device that computes a target vehicle body speed and a target curvature of a towing vehicle from a target vehicle body speed and a target curvature of a towed vehicle configured to travel together with the towing vehicle provided with motive power, and that generates a control signal for the motive power based on the target vehicle body speed of the towing vehicle, the target curvature of the towing vehicle, and a target articulation angle, which is a target value of an articulation angle that is an angle formed between a travel direction of the towing vehicle and a travel direction of the towed vehicle and is computed based on the target curvature of the towed vehicle; and a drive control section that controls the motive power of the towing vehicle in accordance with the control signal.