A vehicle parking assist apparatus acquires a camera image when the vehicle stops by a non-determined parking lot and acquires feature points of a ground of an entrance of the non-determined parking lot as non-compared entrance feature points from the camera image. The vehicle parking assist apparatus determines whether the non-determined parking lot is a registered parking lot by comparing information on the non-compared entrance feature points with registered entrance feature point information. The vehicle parking assist apparatus executes a parking assist control with using the currently-acquired parking lot information and the registered parking lot information when the vehicle parking assist apparatus determines that the non-determined parking lot is the registered parking lot.

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.

An intelligent parking system includes a first three-dimensional detecting module configured to obtain size information of a vehicle, a second three-dimensional detecting module configured to obtain space information of the parking lot, a spatial calculation module configured to obtain parking space requirement information, a parking space displaying module configured to adjust and display a coordinate position and a size of the parking space, a path planning module configured to obtain navigation planning path information, a vehicle guiding module configured to guide the vehicle, and a space warning module configured to judge whether the vehicle enters the corresponding parking space.

A parking control apparatus, for a vehicle including a plurality of wheels, that includes: a processor that is configured to: individually control the wheels to be braked, released, or driven, and, based on control of the wheels, turn the vehicle about an axis that is perpendicular to ground is disclosed.

A method of positioning a vehicle during a parking operation includes positioning a vehicle in a parked position during a first parking operation, and detecting a distance of the vehicle from an object when the vehicle is in the parked position. The distance is stored in a vehicle memory. The distance from the object is recalled during a second parking operation with the vehicle. An indication is provided during the second parking operation when the vehicle is spaced from the object by the distance.

A method for searching for a parking space includes obtaining a first signal indicating a behavior of a vehicle driver, predicting, based on the first signal indicating the behavior of the vehicle driver, use status information, within a subsequent time, of a parking space used by the vehicle driver, and controlling, based on the use status information, within the subsequent time, of the parking space used by the vehicle driver, a status indication of the parking space, where the status indication of the parking space indicates that the parking space is available, occupied, or to be available. Therefore efficiency of searching for the parking space by a user when parking spaces are inadequate is improved.

A power reception apparatus includes a secondary coil which receives electric power in a non-contact manner from a primary coil which is provided on a plane defined by a front-rear direction and a left-right direction which are at right angles to each other, a drive part which can change a relative position on the plane of the secondary coil relative to the primary coil, a display unit, and a processing unit for processing an image to be displayed on the display unit. The processing unit calculates a relative position and a gradient of the secondary coil relative to the primary coil based on a coupling coefficient between the primary coil and the secondary coil, and a change with time in the coupling coefficient.

A trailer angle detection system and method of detecting a trailer of a vehicle including a wide-angle camera and a controller. The controller is configured to receive a signal from the wide-angle camera representative of an area behind the vehicle. The controller transforms the signal into a top-down image. The controller determines a first plurality of values. Each of the first plurality of values is indicative of an amount of symmetry in a region of the top-down image. The controller determines a second plurality of values. Each of the second plurality of values is indicative of how closely a shape in the top-down image matches a predetermined shape. Then, the controller determines an estimate of an articulation angle based on the first plurality of values and the second plurality of values. Then controller performs an automated vehicle maneuver based on the estimate of the articulation angle.

A guidance system for a motor vehicle comprising: a controller, the controller being operable to determine whether a first length of cable is sufficiently long to allow a charging connection to be established between a motor vehicle and a charging station in dependence on data corresponding to a relative position and orientation of the vehicle with respect to the charging station; and output means for providing an output to a user indicating whether the cable is sufficiently long.

The present invention relates to systems for guiding a vehicle to a trailer that can easily be installed or removed, and in particular relates to systems for guiding a vehicle to a trailer to facilitate coupling the vehicle and trailer together. The present invention is a means and a method for continuously determining the heading and/or distance to the trailer to assist a driver to couple a vehicle and trailer together. A device containing an inertial measurement unit is manually positioned proximate to the hitch ball of the vehicle and then positioned proximate to the coupler of the trailer and the motion is tracked and stored to enable the desired path between the two positions to be plotted. This path is then used to guide the driver in bringing the hitch ball and coupler together.