Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Grant L Meade

Norman Joseph Weigert

Akram M Abdel-Rahman

Ralph D Schlottke

Shuqing Zeng

Upali Priyantha Mudalige

Fred W Huntzicker

Anthony L Smith

Louis A Avallone

Avesta Goodarzi

Jeremy A Salinger

Michael A Losh

Michael A Wuergler

Nicholas John Kalweit

Shiv G Patel

Michael D Alarcon

Anil Bika

Michelle H Wiebenga

Peter John Giles

Robert J Horner

Ephraim C Yuen

Thomas R Brown

Sepehr Pourrezaei Khaligh

Daniel Demitrish

Marc Sauve

Sigrid C Wagner

Anston Emmanuel

James C Matthews, Jr

Charles E Leady

Amir R Lodhi

Systems are provided for assisting in towing a trailer by a lead vehicle. A wheeled tow assist unit couples between the lead vehicle and the trailer. A drive unit onboard the tow assist unit drives the wheels in response to a force between the trailer and the tow assist unit. The tow assist unit bears at least a portion of the force required to tow the trailer.

Tow assist system

An imaging connection device is provided for use with a vehicle and a trailer. The vehicle includes a hitch assembly, a wired vehicle interface, and a vehicle communications unit, and the trailer includes a tow assembly and a wire harness. The imaging connection device includes a housing defining a first connector configured to mate with the wired vehicle interface and a second connector configured to mate with the wire harness; a connector interface at least partially arranged within the housing and extending between the first connector and the second connector; a camera unit at least partially arranged within the housing and configured to capture image data representing a side view of the hitch assembly; and a wireless communications unit at least partially arranged within the housing and configured to transmit the image data captured by the camera unit to the vehicle communications unit for display on a display device.

Towing arrangement with integrated imaging connection device

A smart trailer coupler system includes a ball mount connectable to a vehicle, a hitch ball mechanically connected to the ball mount, a coupler selectively connectable to the hitch ball, and at least one sensor mounted to one of the ball mount, the hitch ball and the coupler. The at least one sensor detects a size compatibility between the coupler and the hitch ball. A signal system is operatively connected to the at least one sensor. The signal system provides at least one of a visual alert and an audible alert of the size compatibility between the hitch ball and the coupler.

Smart trailer coupler system

A camera control system of a vehicle comprises a plurality of sensors configured to determine vehicle data and a camera control module configured to receive the vehicle data from the plurality of sensors. The camera control module is further configured to one of: i) adjust at least one operating parameter of the camera based on vehicle movement data received from the plurality of sensors; or ii) adjust at least one operating parameter of the camera based on light level data received from the plurality of sensors.

Method to use vehicle information and sensors for photography and video viewing recording

Methods and systems for automatically controlling a vehicle are disclosed. In one embodiment, a system includes an actuator configured to control one or more vehicle driving characteristics, at least one vehicle sensor configured to measure a vehicle characteristic, a remote assistant in communication with the vehicle, and a controller in communication with the actuator, the at least one vehicle sensor, and the remote assistant, the controller being programmed with an automated driving system control algorithm and configured to determine whether a failsafe condition has occurred based on sensor data from the at least one vehicle sensor, receive a control signal from the remote assistant, and automatically control the actuator based on the control signal.

Methods and systems for remote parking assistance

A method for vehicle-to-vehicle communication is disclosed. The method includes establishing a communication connection between the first vehicle and the second vehicle, receiving one or more communications from the second vehicle, determining, by the first vehicle, vehicle parameter targets based on the one or more communications, communicating the vehicle parameter targets and one or more vehicle device commands to the second vehicle, and determining at least one vehicle control signal for the second vehicle based on the vehicle parameter targets and the one or more vehicle device commands.

Methods and systems for vehicle-to-vehicle communication

A system according to the present disclosure includes an estimated hitch angle module, a measured hitch angle module, a corrected hitch angle module, and at least one of a driver assist module and an actuator control module. The estimated hitch angle module estimates a hitch angle, which is an angle between a longitudinal axis of a vehicle and a longitudinal axis of a trailer that is attached to the vehicle. The measured hitch angle module determines a measured hitch angle based on an input from a sensor. The corrected hitch angle module determines a corrected hitch angle based on the estimated and measured hitch angles. The driver assist module controls a user interface device to assist a driver of the vehicle based on the corrected hitch angle. The actuator control module controls an actuator of at least one of the vehicle and the trailer based on the corrected hitch angle.

System and method for determining a hitch angle based on an input from a sensor and a kinematic model of a vehicle and a trailer, and for controlling the vehicle based on the hitch angle

A control system for a vehicle includes a fuel tank selection module, a fuel depletion determination module, and a fuel pressure balancing module. The fuel tank selection module closes (N&#x2212;M) of N shutoff valves of N compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel tanks, respectively, when an enable condition is met and the N shutoff valves have been open for a first predetermined period, wherein N is an integer greater than one and M is an integer less than N. The fuel depletion determination module determines whether the M CNG fuel tanks have provided a predetermined amount of fuel based a fuel parameter. The fuel pressure balancing module opens the N shutoff valves for the first predetermined period when the M CNG fuel tanks have provided the predetermined amount of fuel.

System and method for controlling shutoff valves of compressed natural gas fuel tanks in a vehicle

A first control system for an engine includes first and second control modules. The first control module determines first and second fuel masses for first and second fuel injection systems of the engine, respectively, and that controls the first fuel injection system to inject a first fuel based on the first fuel mass. The second control module controls the second fuel injection system to inject a second fuel based on the second fuel mass. A second control system for an engine includes first and second control modules. The first control module controls a first fuel injection system of the engine to inject a first fuel and selectively disables at least one of a plurality of components of a second fuel injection system of the engine. The second control module controls the second fuel injection system to inject a second fuel.

System and method for controlling fuel injection in engines configured to operate using different fuels

Growing community of inventors

Whitby, Canada

Grant L Meade