US 12,384,295 B2
Vehicular trailer angle detection system for fifth-wheel trailers
Jyothi P. Gali, Rochester Hills, MI (US); Harold E. Joseph, Brampton (CA); Prasanna Ananthakrishnan, Tamilnadu (IN); Alexander Velichko, Toronto (CA); and Guruprasad Mani Iyer Shankaranarayanan, Mississauga (CA)
Assigned to Magna Electronics Inc., Auburn Hills, MI (US)
Filed by Magna Electronics Inc., Auburn Hills, MI (US)
Filed on Jan. 4, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/646,902.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/199,513, filed on Jan. 5, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2022/0212599 A1, Jul. 7, 2022
Int. Cl. B60R 1/00 (2022.01)
CPC B60R 1/002 (2013.01) [B60R 2300/105 (2013.01); B60R 2300/307 (2013.01); B60R 2300/607 (2013.01); B60R 2300/80 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A vehicular trailer assist system, the vehicular trailer assist system comprising:
a rearward viewing camera disposed at a vehicle equipped with the vehicular trailer assist system, the rearward viewing camera viewing at least a portion of a trailer hitched at a fifth wheel hitch at a bed of the vehicle, wherein the rearward viewing camera captures fisheye-view frames of image data;
wherein the rearward viewing camera comprises a CMOS imaging array having at least one million photosensors arranged in rows and columns;
an electronic control unit (ECU) comprising electronic circuitry and associated software, wherein the electronic circuitry comprises an image processor operable to process fisheye-view frames of image data captured by the rearward viewing camera;
wherein, with the trailer hitched to the fifth wheel hitch at the bed of the vehicle, the vehicular trailer assist system, via image processing at the ECU of fisheye-view frames of image data captured by the rearward viewing camera, transforms frames of image data captured by the rearward viewing camera from fisheye-view frames of image data into bird's-eye view frames of image data;
wherein the vehicular trailer assist system determines the fifth wheel hitch within the transformed bird's-eye view frames of image data;
wherein, with the trailer hitched to the fifth wheel hitch at the bed of the vehicle, the vehicular trailer assist system warps the transformed bird's-eye view frame of image data, and wherein the warped transformed bird's-eye view frame of image data comprises (i) an X-axis where movement of the trailer within the frame of image data along the X-axis indicates change in trailer angle of the trailer relative to the vehicle and (ii) a Y-axis where position of the trailer within the frame of image data along the Y-axis indicates distance from the fifth wheel hitch; and
wherein the vehicular trailer assist system, using the X-axis of the warped transformed bird's-eye view frame of image data, determines the trailer angle of the trailer relative to the vehicle.