A controller commands an electric machine of a vehicle to produce propulsive torque with energy from a traction battery of the vehicle and, at a same time, commands an electric machine of a trailer coupled with the vehicle to produce regenerative torque such that a speed of the vehicle does not change.

A controller commands an electric machine of a vehicle to produce propulsive torque with energy from a traction battery of the vehicle and, at a same time, commands an electric machine of a trailer coupled with the vehicle to produce regenerative torque such that a speed of the vehicle does not change.

The present invention concerns systems, a kit and methods for monitoring coupling of a vehicle and a trailer or a trailer and another trailer. The system includes two sensors associated with a turntable of a towing vehicle, said sensors consisting of: a contact sensor configured to detect when a skid plate of a vehicle to be towed is in contact with the turntable; and a locking sensor configured to detect when the locking mechanism is in a locked configuration. The system further including a controller operatively connected to the two sensors and configured to receive output signals from the contact sensor and the locking sensor and to determine whether safe coupling has been achieved based on the output signals.

A control apparatus for an electrically-operated vehicle that includes an electric motor serving as one of at least one drive power source. The control apparatus includes a vibration-suppression control portion configured to execute a vibration suppression control for causing the electric motor to output a vibration suppression torque by which vibration of the electrically-operated vehicle is to be suppressed. The vibration-suppression control portion is configured to determine whether the electrically-operated vehicle is in a towing state in which the electrically-operated vehicle runs while towing a towed vehicle, or not, and is configured to make a vibration suppression capacity of the vibration suppression control higher when determining that the electrically-operated vehicle is in the towing state, than when determining that the electrically-operated vehicle is not in the towing state.

A control apparatus for an electrically-operated vehicle that includes an electric motor serving as one of at least one drive power source. The control apparatus includes a vibration-suppression control portion configured to execute a vibration suppression control for causing the electric motor to output a vibration suppression torque by which vibration of the electrically-operated vehicle is to be suppressed. The vibration-suppression control portion is configured to determine whether the electrically-operated vehicle is in a towing state in which the electrically-operated vehicle runs while towing a towed vehicle, or not, and is configured to make a vibration suppression capacity of the vibration suppression control higher when determining that the electrically-operated vehicle is in the towing state, than when determining that the electrically-operated vehicle is not in the towing state.

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed for payload estimation and fault detection using hitch integrated sensors. An example apparatus includes a pin orientation determiner to determine a first orientation of a first pin and a second orientation of a second pin, the first pin and the second pin disposed within a hitch and calculate a relative orientation of the first pin and the second pin based on the first orientation and the second orientation. The example apparatus further includes a hitch condition detector to determine if a physical change has occurred in the hitch by comparing the relative orientation to an installation orientation of the first pin and the second pin.

A vehicular trailering assist system includes at least one camera disposed at a trailer hitched to a hitch of a vehicle, and an electronic control unit (ECU). The ECU determines, during a first stage of a calibration maneuver of the vehicle and trailer, image coordinates of at least one ground feature point. The ECU, responsive to determining image coordinates of the at least one ground feature point, estimates orientation parameters of the camera based at least on the determined image coordinates and intrinsic camera parameters. As the vehicle and trailer travel further along the ground surface during a second stage of the calibration maneuver of the vehicle and trailer, and based on the estimated orientation parameters of the at least one camera, the vehicular trailering assist system determines misalignment of the at least one camera at the trailer.

A system for assisting in aligning a vehicle for hitching with a trailer includes an imaging system, a vehicle control system including at least one vehicle sensor, and a controller. The controller controls the vehicle using the vehicle control system to move the vehicle into an aligned position, where a hitch ball on the vehicle is aligned with the coupler, including monitoring a signal from the vehicle sensor and tracking a position of the coupler relative to the hitch ball in image data. When the signal indicates an unintended stopped vehicle state, the controller determines a distance from the hitch ball to the coupler. If the distance is above a predetermined threshold, the controller controls the vehicle control system to cause the vehicle to move. If the distance is below the predetermined threshold, the controller indicates the unintended stopped vehicle state to a driver of the vehicle.

A towing assist device includes an imaging device configured to capture a rear area from a towed vehicle when a towing vehicle moves backward, the towed vehicle being connected to the towing vehicle via a connector; a monitor device including a display screen configured to display a captured image which is captured by the imaging device, a touch screen function for detecting a touch position to the display screen; and a controller that is connected to the imaging device and the monitor device and is configured to control a display of the monitor device when the towing vehicle moves backward. The controller includes a display setting processing portion, a model display processing portion, a touch operation detection portion, and a movement direction model display processing portion.

Techniques are described for measuring angle and/or orientation of a rear drivable section (e.g., a trailer unit of a semi-trailer truck) relative to a front drivable section (e.g., a tractor unit of the semi-trailer truck) using an example rotary encoder assembly. The example rotary encoder assembly comprises a base surface; a housing that includes a second end that is connected to the base surface and a first end that is at least partially open and is coupled to a housing cap; and a rotary encoder that is located in the housing in between the base surface and the housing cap, where the rotary encoder includes a rotatable shaft that protrudes from a first hole located in the housing cap, and where a top of the rotatable shaft located away from the rotary encoder is coupled to magnet(s).