US 11,702,077 B2
Unintended standstill response in an assisted hitching operation
Luke Niewiadomski, Dearborn, MI (US); Li Xu, Bloomfield Hills, MI (US); Roger Trombley, Ann Arbor, MI (US); Donald Jacob Mattern, Canton, MI (US); Yu Ling, Canton, MI (US); and Arnav Sharma, Canton, MI (US)
Assigned to FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US)
Filed by Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US)
Filed on Mar. 8, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/689,093.
Application 17/689,093 is a continuation of application No. 16/459,960, filed on Jul. 2, 2019, granted, now 11,299,158.
Prior Publication US 2022/0185285 A1, Jun. 16, 2022
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. B60W 30/18 (2012.01); B60W 10/18 (2012.01); B60W 10/04 (2006.01); B60W 10/20 (2006.01); B60W 50/14 (2020.01); B60D 1/36 (2006.01); B60D 1/06 (2006.01)
CPC B60W 30/18036 (2013.01) [B60W 10/04 (2013.01); B60W 10/18 (2013.01); B60W 10/20 (2013.01); B60W 50/14 (2013.01); B60D 1/06 (2013.01); B60D 1/36 (2013.01); B60W 2050/146 (2013.01); B60W 2300/14 (2013.01); B60W 2420/42 (2013.01); B60W 2520/10 (2013.01); B60W 2520/28 (2013.01); B60W 2540/12 (2013.01); B60W 2552/15 (2020.02); B60W 2552/20 (2020.02); B60W 2710/18 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system for assisting in aligning a vehicle for hitching with a trailer, comprising:
an imaging system outputting image data;
a vehicle control system including a vehicle brake system and at least one vehicle sensor outputting a signal including information related to a vehicle movement state; and
a controller:
controlling the vehicle using the vehicle control system to move the vehicle into an aligned position, where a hitch ball mounted on the vehicle is aligned with a coupler of the trailer, including monitoring the signal from the at least one vehicle sensor and tracking a position of the coupler relative to the hitch ball in the image data; and
when the information related to the vehicle movement state indicates an unintended stopped vehicle state by way of the vehicle being stopped without the controller having controlled a vehicle brake system to stop the vehicle, determining a distance from the hitch ball to the coupler, if the distance is above a predetermined threshold, controlling the vehicle control system to cause the vehicle to move, and, if the distance is below the predetermined threshold, indicating the unintended stopped vehicle state to a driver of the vehicle.