CN-122009203-A - System and method for trailer sway monitoring and mitigation

Abstract

Vehicles, systems, and methods for mitigating trailer sway are provided. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a vehicle includes at least one sensor configured to record data of a trailer coupled to the vehicle, a processing circuit configured to monitor a position of the trailer based on at least one characteristic point of the recorded data and determine an amount of trailer sway based on the monitored position, and a warning system configured to trigger an alert to a driver of the vehicle in response to the determined amount of trailer sway exceeding a threshold. Triggering the alert may cause the trailer to sway to be mitigated based on the driver's response or based on an action of the processing circuit, such as applying a brake to the trailer or adjusting the torque of the vehicle.

Inventors

• YANG HUI
• A Clichy south
• A. Kartich
• S. Stefanovic

Assignees

• 瑞维安知识产权控股有限责任公司

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20251111

Priority Date

20250516

Claims (20)

1. 1. A vehicle, the vehicle comprising: At least one sensor configured to record data of a trailer coupled to the vehicle; the processing circuitry is configured to process the data, the processing circuit is configured to: monitoring the position of the trailer based on at least one characteristic point of the recorded data, and Determining trailer sway based on the monitored locations, and A warning system configured to trigger an alert to a driver of the vehicle in response to the determined amount of trailer sway exceeding a threshold.
2. 2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one of a camera and at least one of an ultrasonic sensor, a LIDAR sensor, a RADAR sensor, or an inertial measurement unit.
3. 3. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to detect an optical signature, and the at least one feature point comprises the optical signature.
4. 4. A vehicle in accordance with claim 3, wherein: The optical signature encoding data of the trailer, and The threshold is based on the data of the trailer.
5. 5. The vehicle of claim 4, wherein: The data of the trailer includes at least one of trailer load, trailer size, or trailer weight distribution, and The processing circuit is configured to determine the trailer sway amount further based on the data of the trailer.
6. 6. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is further configured to adjust an aspect of the data record based on at least one of a speed of the vehicle or an environmental condition.
7. 7. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the warning system is configured to trigger an occlusion alarm in response to occlusion of the at least one sensor.
8. 8. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein: the processing circuit is further configured to determine an estimated location of the trailer; the estimated position does not take into account trailer sway, and The processing circuit is configured to determine the trailer sway amount further based on a difference between the monitored location and the estimated location.
9. 9. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to cause the vehicle to mitigate the trailer sway in response to the determined trailer sway amount exceeding the threshold.
10. 10. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein the processing circuit is configured to cause the vehicle to mitigate the trailer sway by at least one of applying a brake to the trailer or adjusting a torque of the vehicle.
11. 11. A method, the method comprising: recording data of a trailer towed by a vehicle using at least one sensor of the vehicle; monitoring the position of the trailer based on at least one characteristic point of the recorded data; determining trailer sway based on the monitored locations, and In response to the determined trailer sway amount exceeding a threshold, an alert is triggered to a driver of the vehicle using a warning system.
12. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one of a camera and an ultrasonic sensor, a LIDAR sensor, a RADAR sensor, or an inertial measurement unit.
13. 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one feature point comprises an optical signature coupled to the trailer.
14. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the optical signature encodes data of the trailer, and wherein the threshold is based on the data of the trailer.
15. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the data of the trailer comprises at least one of a trailer load, a trailer size, or a trailer weight distribution, and wherein determining the trailer sway amount is further based on the data of the trailer.
16. 16. The method of claim 11, further comprising adjusting an aspect of the recording based on at least one of a speed of the vehicle or an environmental condition.
17. 17. The method of claim 11, further comprising issuing a trigger occlusion alarm in response to occlusion of the at least one sensor.
18. 18. The method of claim 11, further comprising causing the vehicle to mitigate the trailer sway in response to the determined trailer sway amount exceeding the threshold, wherein the mitigating comprises at least one of applying a brake to the trailer or modifying a torque of the vehicle.
19. 19. A method, the method comprising: recording, using at least one sensor of a vehicle, first data of a trailer configured to be towed by the vehicle; Recording second data of the trailer using the at least one sensor while the trailer is towed by the vehicle, and The trailer is aligned with the vehicle based on the first data and the second data while the vehicle and the trailer are in motion.
20. 20. The method of claim 19, further comprising estimating a calculated trajectory of the trailer based on the alignment, monitoring a recorded trajectory of the trailer based on the second data, and determining an amount of sway of the trailer by comparing the estimated trajectory to the recorded trajectory, wherein aligning the trailer is further based on the amount of sway of the trailer.

Description

System and method for trailer sway monitoring and mitigation Cross Reference to Related Applications The present application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 63/719,059 filed 11/2024, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Introduction to the invention The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for monitoring and mitigating trailer sway. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to using sensors of a vehicle (including but not limited to visual sensors) to monitor the status of a trailer towed by the vehicle, and to mitigating trailer sway (e.g., by an alarm and/or corrective action) if a threshold amount of trailer sway occurs. Disclosure of Invention The vehicle may incorporate data from onboard sensors (e.g., at least one camera and/or any other light-based sensor, radio wave-based sensor, ultrasonic wave-based sensor, or other sensor) for any number of applications. In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a camera or other sensor (including any sensor that may be used to generate spatiotemporal data) is used to monitor the status (and possibly sway, among other things) of a trailer or other cargo towed by a vehicle. Based on the monitoring, an alert may be issued to the driver to mitigate sway, or the vehicle may be controlled (e.g., by a software system that acts in response to monitoring that the degree of sway has exceeded a threshold) to mitigate sway. Vehicles, systems, and methods for mitigating trailer sway are provided. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a vehicle includes at least one sensor configured to record data of a trailer coupled to the vehicle, a processing circuit configured to monitor a position of the trailer based on at least one characteristic point of the recorded data and determine an amount of trailer sway based on the monitored position, and a warning system configured to trigger an alert to a driver of the vehicle in response to the determined amount of trailer sway exceeding a threshold. Triggering the alert may cause the trailer to sway to be mitigated based on the driver's response or based on an action of the processing circuit, such as applying a brake to the trailer or adjusting the torque of the vehicle. Drawings The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout, and in which: FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary hitch that may be used to connect a trailer to a vehicle according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 2 illustrates an electric vehicle configured to monitor sway of a trailer mechanically coupled to the electric vehicle, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an exemplary hardware and software based method for monitoring sway of a trailer mechanically coupled to a vehicle according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 4 shows an exemplary system including a QR code equipped trailer and a computer vision system for tracking the QR code for trailer sway monitoring, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 5 shows an exemplary system for tracking a trailer swaying vehicle based on QR location using computer vision analysis, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 6 is an illustrative graphical depiction of trailer sway over time according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an exemplary method for issuing an alarm in response to detecting trailer sway in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary display panel including a trailer sway alarm, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 9 is a flow chart of an exemplary method for trailer sway monitoring and mitigation according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, and Fig. 10 is a flowchart of an exemplary method for trailer sway monitoring calibration and trailer sway mitigation according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Detailed Description Trailer sway (also referred to as rolling) refers to the undesired side-to-side movement of a towed trailer. Trailer sway can be caused by a variety of factors, including improper weight distribution, poor trailer design, and driving conditions, which can be challenging. One way to mitigate trailer sway is to address improper weight distribution. To avoid undue weight distribution, the heavier items should be placed in the center of the trailer and the lighter items evenly distributed on either side. For example, one approach is to place 60% of the weight in front of the trailer axle and 40% of the weight behind the trailer axle. When using a hitch, the hitch weight may be between 10% and 12% of the total weight of the trailer, and the