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The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Patent No.:

US 10011228 B1

PDFFull Text
Date of Patent:
Jul. 03, 2018

Filed:

Apr. 25, 2016

Hitch angle detection for trailer backup assist system using multiple imaging devices

Applicant:

Ford Global Technologies, Llc, Dearborn, MI (US);

Inventors:

Zheng Hu, Farmington Hills, MI (US);

Erick Michael Lavoie, Dearborn, MI (US);

Assignee:

Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US);

Attorneys:

Frank MacKenzie

Price Heneveld LLP

Primary Examiner:

Zhihan Zhou

Int. Cl.
CPC ...
B60R 1/00 (2006.01); B62D 13/06 (2006.01); B62D 15/02 (2006.01); H04N 7/18 (2006.01); G06K 9/00 (2006.01); B60D 1/06 (2006.01); B60D 1/145 (2006.01); B60D 1/24 (2006.01); B60D 1/62 (2006.01); B60C 5/00 (2006.01); B60W 10/18 (2012.01); B60R 1/12 (2006.01); B60R 11/04 (2006.01); B60R 11/00 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
B60R 1/00 (2013.01); B60C 5/00 (2013.01); B60D 1/06 (2013.01); B60D 1/145 (2013.01); B60D 1/245 (2013.01); B60D 1/62 (2013.01); B60W 10/18 (2013.01); B62D 13/06 (2013.01); B62D 15/024 (2013.01); B62D 15/0285 (2013.01); G06K 9/00791 (2013.01); H04N 7/181 (2013.01); B60R 1/12 (2013.01); B60R 11/04 (2013.01); B60R 2001/1253 (2013.01); B60R 2011/004 (2013.01); B60R 2300/105 (2013.01); B60R 2300/806 (2013.01);
Abstract

A trailer backup assist system is provided herein. A plurality of imaging devices is configured to capture rear-vehicle images. A controller is configured to receive output from each imaging device. The controller processes the output from each imaging device to track a number of trailer features. The controller determines a confidence score for the output of each imaging device. The confidence score is determined based on the number of trailer features being tracked and a tracking quality of each trailer feature. The controller also determines a hitch angle between a vehicle and a trailer based on the output associated with whichever imaging device yielded the highest confidence score.

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