A method for estimating an effective length of a first vehicle segment of a vehicle combination, the vehicle combination comprising a towing vehicle which is connected to the first vehicle segment via a first articulation joint and a perception sensor mounted on one of the towing vehicle and the first vehicle segment and arranged to obtain an image of the other one of the towing vehicle and the first vehicle segment; the method comprising identifying that the vehicle combination is provided in a first steady vehicle state, identifying that a turning and driving manoeuvre is initiated, identifying when the vehicle combination reaches a second steady vehicle state, determining a time period required for driving the vehicle combination from the first steady vehicle state to the second steady vehicle state, and estimating the effective length by use of the time period, the specific angular change, and the specific speed.

A method and system for operating a vehicle's trailer reverse assist system is disclosed, including receiving vehicle sensor system data from one or more sensors supported by the vehicle. Based upon the received vehicle sensor data, a trailer pitch angle and a trailer roll angle of a coupled trailer are estimated relative to the vehicle. Surface unevenness of a surface traversed by the vehicle and the trailer is estimated, based upon the estimated trailer pitch angle and the estimated trailer roll angle. One or more parameters of the trailer reverse assist system or of the tow vehicle are adjusted based upon the estimated road surface variance. The trailer reverse assist system of the tow vehicle is subsequently operated using the adjusted one or more parameters.

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 arrangement for improving manoeuvrability of a vehicle combination that includes a first vehicle unit, a second vehicle unit and a third vehicle unit interconnected by articulated joints, where the vehicle combination includes two driven axles and where each driven axle can be controlled independently, an arrangement for determining the articulation angel between the vehicle units, an arrangement for determining a steering wheel angle of the vehicle combination, an arrangement for determining the speed of the vehicle combination, an arrangement for determining the yaw rate of the vehicle units, and an arrangement for determining a delay value between the steering wheels of the vehicle combination and at least one articulated joint, where the arrangement is adapted to control a desired articulation angle of the articulated joints by coordinating the force ratio between the two driven axles by using the determined yaw rate of the vehicle units and the determined delay value.

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.

A system for estimating an articulation angle between a first and a second connected vehicle section of an articulated vehicle combination, the system comprising a primary image obtaining device configured to be mounted on a first position of one of the vehicle sections and to obtain images of the other vehicle section during use; a secondary image obtaining device configured to be mounted on a second position of one of the vehicle sections and to obtain images of the other vehicle section during use, the second position being different from the first position, and/or a mounting orientation at the second position of the second image obtaining device being different from a mounting orientation at the first position of the primary image obtaining device.

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.

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.

According to a method for assisting reverse driving of a combination (1), an actual value for a hitch angle of the combination (1) is determined by a computing unit (6) depending on sensor data generated by a hitch angle sensor. A hitch length of a trailer (3), given by a distance between a trailer body (11) and a hitch (7) of a vehicle (2), is determined depending on environmental sensor data of the combination (1). A collision value for the hitch angle is determined by the computing unit (6) depending on the hitch length, and the safety measure is triggered by the computing unit (6) depending on the actual value and the collision value for the hitch angle.

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.