US 12,266,130 B2
Vehicular trailer angle detection system
Horst D. Diessner, Rochester Hills, MI (US); Jyothi P. Gali, Rochester Hills, MI (US); Nikhil Gupta, Brampton (CA); Hilda Faraji, Toronto (CA); Galina Okouneva, Markham (CA); and Akinyele O. Ikuseru, Chandler, AZ (US)
Assigned to MAGNA ELECTRONICS INC., Auburn Hills, MI (US)
Filed by MAGNA ELECTRONICS INC., Auburn Hills, MI (US)
Filed on Apr. 22, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/641,671.
Application 18/641,671 is a continuation of application No. 18/317,155, filed on May 15, 2023, granted, now 11,967,098.
Application 18/317,155 is a continuation of application No. 17/249,120, filed on Feb. 22, 2021, granted, now 11,651,510, issued on May 16, 2023.
Application 17/249,120 is a continuation of application No. 16/779,819, filed on Feb. 3, 2020, granted, now 10,930,004, issued on Feb. 23, 2021.
Application 16/779,819 is a continuation of application No. 15/928,128, filed on Mar. 22, 2018, granted, now 10,552,976, issued on Feb. 4, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/518,765, filed on Jun. 13, 2017.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/474,646, filed on Mar. 22, 2017.
Prior Publication US 2024/0273748 A1, Aug. 15, 2024
Int. Cl. G06K 9/00 (2022.01); B60R 1/26 (2022.01); G06T 7/246 (2017.01); G06T 7/60 (2017.01); G06T 7/73 (2017.01)
CPC G06T 7/60 (2013.01) [B60R 1/26 (2022.01); G06T 7/248 (2017.01); G06T 7/73 (2017.01); G06T 7/74 (2017.01); B60R 2300/8066 (2013.01); B60R 2300/8093 (2013.01); G06T 2207/30252 (2013.01)] 43 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
21. A vehicular trailer angle detection system, the vehicular trailer angle detection system comprising:
a camera disposed at a rear portion of a vehicle, the camera viewing exterior and at least rearward of the vehicle;
wherein the camera comprises an imaging array having at least one million photosensor elements arranged in rows and columns;
wherein the camera is operable to capture frames of image data;
an image processor operable to process image data captured by the camera;
wherein the vehicular trailer angle detection system determines if a trailer hitched at the vehicle is a trailer for which the vehicular trailer angle detection system is calibrated;
wherein, responsive to determination that the trailer is not a trailer for which the vehicular trailer angle detection system is calibrated, the vehicular trailer angle detection system collects data during a calibration drive;
wherein, with the trailer hitched at the vehicle, and as the vehicle and the trailer are traveling along a road after the calibration drive, the vehicular trailer angle detection system, via processing by the image processor of captured image data, tracks changes of features present in a current frame of image data captured by the camera and present in a previous frame of image data captured by the camera and determines a first feature of the trailer and a second feature of the trailer based on the tracked changes of features,
wherein the determined first feature of the trailer has a first change between the current frame of image data captured by the camera and the previous frame of image data captured by the camera, and wherein the determined second feature of the trailer has a second change between the current frame of image data captured by the camera and the previous frame of image data captured by the camera;
wherein the vehicular trailer angle detection system determines angle of the trailer relative to the vehicle based at least in part on tracking of the determined first feature of the trailer and the determined second feature of the trailer over multiple captured frames of image data; and
wherein the vehicular trailer angle detection system determines angle of the trailer without use of a target on the trailer.