US 12,448,043 B2
Method for determining the angular position of a complex vehicle with two axes of rotation, and system configured to implement such a method
Vicente Poveda Carias, Toulouse (FR); David Guerrero, Toulouse (FR); and Jean-Baptiste Vimort, St Genis les Ollières (FR)
Assigned to CONTINENTAL AUTONOMOUS MOBILITY GERMANY GMBH, Ingolstadt (DE)
Appl. No. 18/699,383
Filed by CONTINENTAL AUTONOMOUS MOBILITY GERMANY GMBH, Ingolstadt (DE)
PCT Filed Sep. 26, 2022, PCT No. PCT/EP2022/076699
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 8, 2024,
PCT Pub. No. WO2023/066610, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 27, 2023.
Claims priority of application No. 2111234 (FR), filed on Oct. 22, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2024/0326909 A1, Oct. 3, 2024
Int. Cl. B62D 13/06 (2006.01); B62D 15/02 (2006.01); G01B 11/26 (2006.01)
CPC B62D 13/06 (2013.01) [B62D 15/021 (2013.01); G01B 11/26 (2013.01)] 5 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for determining the angular position of a vehicle comprising a towing vehicle, a towing platform articulated on the towing vehicle at a first anchoring point, at least about a first axis of rotation generally perpendicular to the general plane of the towing platform, and a trailer articulated on the towing platform at a second anchoring point, at least about a second axis of rotation generally perpendicular to the general plane of the towing platform, at a second anchoring point, which method is implemented by a system comprising a computer and a camera oriented toward the trailer, the method comprising:
the camera acquiring a first image in a first reference position of the vehicle, and of detecting at least one characteristic point of the trailer in said first position, which point is observed in the first image;
the camera acquiring a second image in a second position of the vehicle, and of detecting said characteristic point in the second position, which point is observed in the second image, the detected characteristic point being the same for each position;
estimating the position of the characteristic point in the first position and the second position of the vehicle, which point is observed in the first image and in the second image, respectively, by minimizing a cost function based on an iteration of different values of the height of the characteristic point in the first position of the vehicle and of the characteristic point in the second position of the vehicle, along an axis perpendicular to the general plane of the towing platform; and
determining the angle of rotation between the trailer and the towing platform based on the estimated position of the characteristic point in the first position and the second position that is estimated during the previous estimation step.