US 12,441,242 B2
System and method for detecting a trailer coupler and planning a trajectory
Arun Adiththan, Sterling Heights, MI (US); Md Mhafuzul Islam, Warren, MI (US); Prakash M. Peranandam, Rochester Hills, MI (US); Ramesh Sethu, Troy, MI (US); and Azeem Sarwar, Rochester Hills, MI (US)
Assigned to GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC, Detroit, MI (US)
Filed by GM Global Technology Operations LLC, Detroit, MI (US)
Filed on Dec. 5, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/528,908.
Prior Publication US 2025/0178528 A1, Jun. 5, 2025
Int. Cl. B60R 1/00 (2022.01); G06V 20/56 (2022.01)
CPC B60R 1/003 (2013.01) [G06V 20/56 (2022.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system for detecting a trailer coupler on a trailer to assist with coupling the trailer coupler to a vehicle hitch, the system comprising:
one or more human-machine interfaces (HMIs) disposed within a vehicle;
a vehicle camera disposed on the vehicle and detecting an environment surrounding the vehicle;
a trailer camera disposed on the trailer and detecting an environment surrounding the trailer;
a vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication network;
one or more controllers, each of the one or more controllers having a processor, a memory, and one or more input/output (I/O) ports, the one or more I/O ports in communication with the vehicle camera and the trailer camera, and in communication the one or more HMIs via the V2I communication network, the memory storing instructions including a trailer detection and trajectory planning application (DTPA) which, when executed by the processor, perform the following:
initialize a data stream from the vehicle camera and the trailer camera;
simultaneously capture the data stream from the vehicle camera and from the trailer camera;
determine key landmarks in the data stream from the vehicle camera and in the data stream from the trailer camera;
combine the key landmarks;
determine a coupler location with respect to the vehicle hitch using the combined key landmarks;
compute a joint reference trajectory using the coupler location with respect to a hitch location; and
provide navigation assistance in real time based on the joint reference trajectory.