Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This office action is in response to application filed 12/20/2024 in which the claims 1-23 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/21/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. claims 1, 11, 16 recite “wherein, with the vehicle not operating in the calibration state, and based in part on the determined hitch point of the trailer hitched to the vehicle, the vehicular trailering assist system determines a jack-knife angle of the trailer relative to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle”. However specification in para[0019] only recites the system may also determine the jack- knife angle of the trailer (i.e., the trailer angle at which the trailer is in danger of jack- knifing), thus claimed subject matter is not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 4-6, 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu et al. (US 2017/0174128 A1) in view of Gieseke et al. (US 2017/0050672 A1) and Kyrtsos et al. (US 2017/0008560 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Hu discloses a vehicular trailering assist system, the vehicular trailering assist system comprising: a camera disposed at a rear portion of a vehicle equipped with the vehicular trailering assist system, the camera viewing at least rearward of the vehicle (Para[0028] teaches the trailer backup assist system 10 also includes an imaging device 34 located at the rear of the vehicle 14 and configured to image a rear-vehicle scene); wherein, with a trailer hitched to the vehicle, the camera views at least a portion of the trailer hitched to the vehicle (para[0028] teaches the imaging device 34 has a field of view 36 located and oriented to capture one or more images that may include the tongue 26 of the trailer 12 and the hitch ball 30, among other things); wherein the camera is operable to capture frames of image data (Abstract teaches imaging device is configured to capture images of the trailer and a controller is configured to process the captured images); an electronic control unit (ECU) comprising electronic circuitry and associated software (Fig. 2 teaches controller 38); wherein the electronic circuitry comprises an image processor operable to process frames of image data captured by the camera (Para[0028] teaches the controller 38 is configured with a microprocessor 40 and/or other analog and/or digital circuitry for processing one or more logic routines); wherein frames of image data captured by the camera are transferred to and are processed at the ECU (Para[0028] teaches captured images are supplied to a controller 38 of the trailer backup assist system 10 and are processed by the controller 38 to determine the hitch angle between the vehicle 14 and the trailer 12); wherein, with the trailer hitched to the vehicle and while the vehicle is operating in a calibration state and being driven straight the (Para[0061] teaches when the yaw rate of the vehicle 14 and the trailer 12 become equal, the hitch angle γ and the steering angle δ will be constant. This condition, referred to herein as steady state, can occur when a steering command is steadily maintained during a backing maneuver such as when the trailer 12 is reversed in a straight line with the vehicle 14 or when the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 are turning at a constant curvature for at least a threshold period of time or over a threshold distance of motion. Para[0068]- [0069] teaches controller 38 proceeds to step 620 to determine whether the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 are moving in a straight direction. Steady state condition may be satisfied when the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 are moving in a straight direction), and at least in part via processing at the ECU of frames of image data captured by the camera (para[0010] FIG. 4 is a captured image showing a trailer in straight alignment with a vehicle, para[0036] teaches while the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 are engaged in the straight pull maneuver, the controller 38 derives an averaged image of all images captured by the imaging device 34 during a period of time at step 120. Para[0068] teaches If it is determined that the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 are moving in a straight direction, the controller 38 proceeds to step 625 and processes images captured by the imaging device 34 ) , the vehicular trailering assist system determines edges of the trailer (Para[0037], [0043] teaches or edge value, for each pixel in the averaged image. At step 220, the controller 38 identifies trailer pixels in the edge map by comparing the edge value of each pixel to a threshold value and selecting only those pixels meeting or exceeding the threshold value to correspond to trailer pixels. Para[0046] teaches . At step 310, the controller 38 derives an edge map for both images by calculating the intensity gradient, or edge value, for each of their corresponding pixels.); wherein, with the trailer hitched to the vehicle and after the vehicle is driven straight and while the vehicle is operating in the calibration state and being driven along a curved path (Para[0027], [0029] & FIGS. 1 and 2 teaches, reference numeral 10 generally designates a trailer backup assist system for controlling a backing path of a trailer 12 attached to a vehicle 14 by allowing a driver of the vehicle 14 to specify a desired curvature of the backing path of the trailer 12, A steering input device 54 may be provided to enable a driver to control or otherwise modify the desired curvature of the backing path of the trailer 12.Para[0061] teaches as steady state, can occur when a steering command is steadily maintained during a backing maneuver such as when the trailer 12 is reversed in a straight line with the vehicle 14 or when the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 are turning at a constant curvature for at least a threshold period of time or over a threshold distance of motion, Para[0069] teaches once the centerline method is selected, the controller 38 will continue to determine the hitch angle via the centerline method until a steady state condition is satisfied at step 640. As described previously herein, the steady state condition may be satisfied when the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 are moving in a straight direction or moving along a path at constant curvature), and at least in part via processing at the ECU of frames of image data captured by the camera, the vehicular trailering assist system determines a hitch point of the trailer hitched to the vehicle; (FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of a method of locating an imaged hitch point) & Para[0038]- [0039] & Fig. 10 teaches imaged hitch point 172 may be determined. Para[0043], [0045] Referring to FIG. 13, a method of locating an imaged hitch point in images captured by the imaging device 34 ), the vehicular trailering assist system determines a jack-knife angle of the trailer relative to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle (FIG. 10 is a search image having a proximity zone for jackknife detection and a number of candidate hitch point locations about which a template image can be rotated to determine an actual imaged hitch point and a hitch angle & Para[0041] & Fig. 3 teaches in the event the template image 158 crosses into the proximity zone 182 of the search image 171, the controller 38 determines that an imminent jackknife scenario is present and initiates a jackknife countermeasure at step 190).
Hu does not explicitly disclose wherein the camera comprises an imaging array having at least one million photosensors arranged in rows and columns; and wherein, with the vehicle not operating in the calibration state, and based in part on the determined hitch point of the trailer hitched to the vehicle, the vehicular trailering assist system determines a jack-knife angle of the trailer relative to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle. However Gieseke discloses wherein the camera comprises an imaging array having at least one million photosensors arranged in rows and columns (para[0031] teaches imaging array has at least 300,000 photosensor elements or pixels, more preferably at least 500,000 photosensor elements or pixels and more preferably at least 1 million photosensor elements or pixels). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method of detecting a hitch angle between a vehicle and a trailer and controller defines a number of candidate lines in the edge map and determines the hitch angle based on an angle between a selected candidate line and a reference line of Hu with the method of vehicle cameras are disposed at the vehicle and a trailer camera is disposed at the trailer towed by the vehicle, responsive to processing of captured image data during forward and rearward motions of the vehicle and trailer of Gieseke in order to provide a system in which vehicle cameras are disposed at the vehicle and a trailer camera is disposed at the trailer towed by the vehicle, which enhances the efficiency of the driver assist system.
Hu in view of Gieseke does not explicitly disclose and wherein, with the vehicle not operating in the calibration state, and based in part on the determined hitch point of the trailer hitched to the vehicle, the vehicular trailering assist system determines a jack-knife angle of the trailer relative to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle. However Kyrtsos discloses and wherein, with the vehicle not operating in the calibration state, and based in part on the determined hitch point of the trailer hitched to the vehicle, the vehicular trailering assist system determines a jack-knife angle of the trailer relative to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle (Para0058] & FIG. 6, teaches it is desirable to limit the potential for the vehicle 14 and the trailer 12 to attain a jackknife angle (i.e., the vehicle/trailer system achieving a jackknife condition). A jackknife angle γ(j) refers to a hitch angle γ that, while vehicle 14 is backing, cannot be overcome by the maximum steering input for a vehicle such as, for example, the steered front wheels of the vehicle 14 being moved to a maximum steered angle δ at a maximum rate of steering angle change. The jackknife angle γ(j) is a function of a maximum wheel angle for the steered wheels of the vehicle 14, the wheel base W of the vehicle 14, the distance L between hitch point and the rear axle of the vehicle 14, and the trailer length D between the hitch point and the axle of the trailer 12 or the effective axle when the trailer 12 has multiple axles. When the hitch angle γ for the vehicle 14 and the trailer 12 achieves or exceeds the jackknife angle γ(j), the vehicle 14 may be pulled forward to reduce the hitch angle γ. Conversely, under continued backing of vehicle 14, the hitch angle γ will continue to increase, regardless of the steering input, toward a collision angle at which point trailer 12 may come into contact with vehicle 14. Thus, for limiting the potential for a vehicle/trailer system attaining a jackknife angle, it is preferable to control the yaw angle of the trailer 12 while keeping the hitch angle γ of the vehicle/trailer system relatively small). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method of detecting a hitch angle between a vehicle and a trailer and controller defines a number of candidate lines in the edge map & camera is disposed at the trailer towed by the vehicle, responsive to processing of captured image data during forward and rearward motions of the vehicle and trailer of Hu in view of Gieseke with the method of backup assist system for a vehicle reversing a trailer includes a hitch angle sensor providing a measured hitch angle of the trailer. The system also includes a controller determining a position of the measured hitch angle in relation to an unknown jackknife angle by monitoring a predetermined dynamic hitch angle characteristic derived from the measured hitch angle for a corresponding jackknife indicating characteristic of Kyrtsos in order to provide system in which a accuracy and reliability of hitch angle detection or estimation relative to the jackknife angle can be critical to the operation of the backup assist system.
Regarding claim 4, Hu discloses the vehicular trailering assist system of claim 1, wherein the vehicular trailering assist system determines edges of the trailer via processing of less than ten frames of image data (Para[0046] teaches At step 310, the controller 38 derives an edge map for both images by calculating the intensity gradient, or edge value, for each of their corresponding pixels).
Regarding claim 5, Hu discloses the vehicular trailering assist system of claim 1, wherein the vehicular trailering assist system, with the trailer hitched to the vehicle and while the vehicle is operating in the calibration state, and via processing at the ECU of frames of image data captured by the camera, determines a trailer template of the trailer hitched to the vehicle (Para[0037] teaches pixels having an edge value meeting or exceeding the threshold value are identified as trailer pixels whereas pixels having an edge value not meeting or exceeding the threshold value are identified as ground noise pixels. Once the trailer pixels have been identified, the controller 38 determines one or more trailer contours at step 150. The trailer contour(s) are saved to the memory 42 of the controller 38 as a template image at step 160 and may include a substantial entirety of the imaged trailer 12 or portions thereof. For purposes of illustration, a trailer contour 152 is shown in FIG. 8).
Regarding claim 6, Hu further discloses the vehicular trailering assist system of claim 5, wherein the vehicular trailering assist system, responsive to determining edges of the trailer, matches determined edges to the determined trailer template of the trailer hitched to the vehicle. (Para[0037] teaches at step 130, the controller 38 derives an edge map of the averaged image by calculating the intensity gradient for each pixel of the averaged image 125. The intensity gradient, or edge value, of each pixel may range from 0 to 255. For purposes of illustration, an edge map 135 is exemplarily shown in FIG. 7, in which the edge values of pixels associated with ground noise have been substantially weakened due to the blurring effect. At step 140, the controller 38 compares the edge value of each pixel of the edge map 135 to a threshold value (e.g., 30). Pixels having an edge value meeting or exceeding the threshold value are identified as trailer pixels whereas pixels having an edge value not meeting or exceeding the threshold value are identified as ground noise pixels. The trailer contour 152 has a square shape, which is generally more computationally efficient. In its current position, the trailer contour 152 may serve as a zero hitch angle reference and enables the hitch angle between the vehicle 14 and the trailer 12 to be determined in subsequent images (i.e., search images) via template matching at step 170).
Regarding claim 10, Hu further discloses the vehicular trailering assist system of claim 1, wherein the vehicular trailering assist system determines the hitch point of the trailer hitched to the vehicle based at least in part on the determined edges of the trailer (Para[0043] & FIG. 12 teaches at step 230, the controller 38 defines a number of candidate lines on the edge map 222. The candidate lines project outwardly from a common projection point, preferably the imaged hitch point 232. the candidate lines may vary from −90 degrees to 90 degrees with respect to a reference line 234 that is indicative of a predetermined hitch angle (e.g., a zero hitch angle) and extends vertically across the middle column of the edge map 222 and intersects the imaged hitch point 232. While the exact location of the imaged hitch point 232 may be unknown initially, the controller 38 may assign a default projection point from which to project the candidate lines. Since it's assumed the hitch point 232 will typically be located along the reference line 234 and usually falls within a predictable range (e.g., 10-20 centimeters from the rear bumper of the vehicle 14 . Para[0046] teaches at step 310, the controller 38 derives an edge map for both images by calculating the intensity gradient, or edge value, for each of their corresponding pixels. The reference line 326 is defined by the controller 38 and is assumed to coincide with the center longitudinal axis of an imaged drawbar 327 and intersect with an imaged hitch point 328 between the vehicle 14 and the trailer 12).
Claims 2-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu et al. (US 2017/0174128 A1) in view of Gieseke et al. (US 2017/0050672 A1) and Kyrtsos et al. (US 2017/0008560 A1) in further view of Oh et al. (US 2021/0129906 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos discloses the vehicular trailering assist system of claim 1, Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos does not explicitly disclose wherein, with the trailer hitched to the vehicle and while the vehicle is operating in the calibration state, the vehicular trailering assist system determines a current trailer angle based on a kinematic model. However Oh discloses wherein, with the trailer hitched to the vehicle and while the vehicle is operating in the calibration state, the vehicular trailering assist system determines a current trailer angle based on a kinematic model (Para[0027] teaches the determined trailer angle γ and the process for the detection of the same is useable as an aspect of the system 10 that includes functionality for controlling a backing path of the trailer 12 when attached to the vehicle 14. In such an example, the system 10 can implement such control by allowing a driver of the vehicle 14 to specify a desired curvature 26 of the backing path of the trailer 12. The controller 28, in addition to determining the trailer angle γ, as discussed above, controls a steering system 62 of the vehicle 14 using the angle γ of the trailer 12 in a kinematic model of the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 combination to maintain the vehicle 14 along a backing path. Para[0057] teaches FIGS. 11-14, the illustrated hitch angle detection method can be used within a method for reversing a trailer that includes controlling the steering system 62 of the vehicle 14 using the determined hitch angle γ (i.e., the angle of the trailer 12 with respect to the vehicle 14) in the kinematic model (FIG. 11) of the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 combination to maintain the vehicle 14 along backing path P (FIG. 14)). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method of detecting a hitch angle between a vehicle and a trailer and controller defines a number of candidate lines in the edge map & camera is disposed at the trailer towed by the vehicle, responsive to processing of captured image data during forward and rearward motions of the vehicle and trailer with a predetermined dynamic hitch angle characteristic derived from the measured hitch angle for a corresponding jackknife indicating characteristic of Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos with the method to correlate determined position of Edge of Trailer relative to Vehicle To Determine Angle Of Trailer Relative To Vehicle About Coupling Point of Oh in order to provide a system in which accurate detection of the edge of the trailer is realized.
Regarding claim 3, Oh further discloses the vehicular trailering assist system of claim 2, wherein the vehicular trailering assist system determines the current trailer angle based on the kinematic model after the vehicle completes a threshold portion of a turn (Para[0048] teaches with particular reference to FIG. 11, the trailer angle γ determined using radar system 46 can be used as an input to a control algorithm (e.g., curvature routine 98) that uses vehicle and trailer information and parameters to calculate a kinematic relationship between a curvature of a path of travel of the trailer 12 and the steering angle of the vehicle 14 towing the trailer 12, which can be desirable for a trailer backup assist system). Motivation to combine as indicated in claim 2.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu et al. (US 2017/0174128 A1) in view of Gieseke et al. (US 2017/0050672 A1) and Kyrtsos et al. (US 2017/0008560 A1) and Niewiadomski et al. (US 2021/0078374 A1)
Regarding claim 7, Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos discloses the vehicular trailering assist system of claim 6, Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos does not explicitly disclose, wherein the vehicular trailering assist system determines location of a hitch ball of the vehicle. However Niewiadomski discloses wherein the vehicular trailering assist system determines location of a hitch ball of the vehicle (Para[0052] teaches the hitch assist system 10 searches for a circular shape indicative of the hitch ball 34 in the rear camera image data 55, as described previously. The hitch assist system 10 expects the hitch ball to be laterally aligned with the center 36 of the vehicle 12 within a range 122 of distance from a vehicle bumper 124, in which the range 122 includes a maximum and a minimum distance to detect the hitch ball 34). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method of detecting a hitch angle between a vehicle and a trailer and controller defines a number of candidate lines in the edge map & camera is disposed at the trailer towed by the vehicle, responsive to processing of captured image data during forward and rearward motions of the vehicle and trailer with a predetermined dynamic hitch angle characteristic derived from the measured hitch angle for a corresponding jackknife indicating characteristic of Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtso with the fixed offset provides significant reduction in aborts of Niewiadomski in order to provide a system clutch assistance system, or misalignment between the hitch ball and coupler due to improper clutch detection in the image data from the imaging system.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu et al. (US 2017/0174128 A1) in view of Gieseke et al. (US 2017/0050672 A1) and Kyrtsos et al. (US 2017/0008560 A1) and Lavoie et al. (US 2016/0039456 A1).
Regarding claim 8, Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos discloses the vehicular trailering assist system of claim 1, Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos does not explicitly disclose wherein, with the trailer hitched to the vehicle and while the vehicle is operating in the calibration state and being driven along the curved path, trailer angle of the trailer relative to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle remains constant. However Lavoie discloses wherein, with the trailer hitched to the vehicle and while the vehicle is operating in the calibration state and being driven along the curved path, trailer angle of the trailer relative to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle remains constant. (Para[0185] teaches for the trailer backup assist system 105, it is advantageous to use information that is representative of an angle between the vehicle and a trailer attached to the vehicle, also known as the hitch angle γ or trailer angle. Para[0254] teaches when this steady state condition is met, the expected trailer angle is calculated and the difference between the expected trailer angle and the measured trailer angle is determined as the offset. The vehicle steady state indicator may include one or more of the following: the vehicle yaw rate is constant, the steering wheel or road wheel angle is constant, or the steering wheel or road wheel angle rate is substantially zero. The trailer steady state indicator may include one or more of the following: the trailer yaw rate is constant, or the trailer hitch angle is constant, or the trailer hitch angle rate is substantially zero. When the curvature command is zero while the vehicle is driven in reverse, the expected trailer angle is zero, and the offset is calculated from the difference from zero to the measured angle. However, it should be appreciated that the offset may be calculated when the curvature command is not at zero during a non-straight travel path.). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method of detecting a hitch angle between a vehicle and a trailer and controller defines a number of candidate lines in the edge map & camera is disposed at the trailer towed by the vehicle, responsive to processing of captured image data during forward and rearward motions of the vehicle and trailer with a predetermined dynamic hitch angle characteristic derived from the measured hitch angle for a corresponding jackknife indicating characteristic of Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtso with a method to provide a constant hitch angle measurement of Lavoie in order to provide a system allows a trailer curvature control mechanism to exhibit reduced steering sensitivity and effectiveness when the vehicle is at relatively high speeds and when undergoing relatively high acceleration.
Claims 9, 11, 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu et al. (US 2017/0174128 A1) in view of Gieseke et al. (US 2017/0050672 A1) and Kyrtsos et al. (US 2017/0008560 A1) in further view of Lu et al. (US 2005/0206226 A1).
Regarding claim 9, Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos discloses the vehicular trailering assist system of claim 1, Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos does not explicitly disclose, wherein the curved path comprises a U-turn of the vehicle. However Lu discloses wherein the curved path comprises a U-turn of the vehicle (Para[0139] teaches Referring now to FIG. 21, the present invention may be used to assist a vehicle in a U-turn condition. In step 300, a U-turn is detected from the various sensors and/or inputs. For example, a push button on the instrument panel or one of the levers may be provided to assist or trigger the vehicle into an assist mode based upon a U-turn). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method of detecting a hitch angle between a vehicle and a trailer and controller defines a number of candidate lines in the edge map & camera is disposed at the trailer towed by the vehicle, responsive to processing of captured image data during forward and rearward motions of the vehicle and trailer with a predetermined dynamic hitch angle characteristic derived from the measured hitch angle for a corresponding jackknife indicating characteristic of Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtso with the method of controlling vehicle in u-turn of Lu in order to provide system used for controlling an automotive vehicle e.g. car, pickup truck, trailer and heavy duty truck, performing a U-turn
Regarding claim 11, Hu discloses a vehicular trailering assist system, the vehicular trailering assist system comprising: a camera disposed at a rear portion of a vehicle equipped with the vehicular trailering assist system, the camera viewing at least rearward of the vehicle (Para[0028] teaches the trailer backup assist system 10 also includes an imaging device 34 located at the rear of the vehicle 14 and configured to image a rear-vehicle scene); wherein, with a trailer hitched to the vehicle, the camera views at least a portion of the trailer hitched to the vehicle (para[0028] teaches the imaging device 34 has a field of view 36 located and oriented to capture one or more images that may include the tongue 26 of the trailer 12 and the hitch ball 30, among other things); wherein the camera is operable to capture frames of image data (Abstract teaches imaging device is configured to capture images of the trailer and a controller is configured to process the captured images); an electronic control unit (ECU) comprising electronic circuitry and associated software (Fig. 2 teaches controller 38); wherein the electronic circuitry comprises an image processor operable to process frames of image data captured by the camera (Para[0028] teaches the controller 38 is configured with a microprocessor 40 and/or other analog and/or digital circuitry for processing one or more logic routines); wherein frames of image data captured by the camera are transferred to and are processed at the ECU (Para[0028] teaches captured images are supplied to a controller 38 of the trailer backup assist system 10 and are processed by the controller 38 to determine the hitch angle between the vehicle 14 and the trailer 12); wherein, with the trailer hitched to the vehicle and while the vehicle is operating in a calibration state and being driven straight Para[0069] teaches steady state condition may be satisfied when the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 are moving in a straight direction), and at least in part via processing at the ECU of frames of image data captured by the camera, the vehicular trailering assist system determines edges of the trailer (Para[0037], [0043] teaches or edge value, for each pixel in the averaged image. At step 220, the controller 38 identifies trailer pixels in the edge map by comparing the edge value of each pixel to a threshold value and selecting only those pixels meeting or exceeding the threshold value to correspond to trailer pixels); wherein the vehicular trailering assist system determines edges of the trailer via processing of less than ten frames of image data (Para[0046] teaches At step 310, the controller 38 derives an edge map for both images by calculating the intensity gradient, or edge value, for each of their corresponding pixels); wherein, with the trailer hitched to the vehicle and after the vehicle is driven straight and while the vehicle is operating in the calibration state and being driven along a curved path (Para[0027] & FIGS. 1 and 2 teaches, reference numeral 10 generally designates a trailer backup assist system for controlling a backing path of a trailer 12 attached to a vehicle 14 by allowing a driver of the vehicle 14 to specify a desired curvature of the backing path of the trailer 12), Para[0061] teaches as steady state, can occur when a steering command is steadily maintained during a backing maneuver such as when the trailer 12 is reversed in a straight line with the vehicle 14 or when the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 are turning at a constant curvature for at least a threshold period of time or over a threshold distance of motion), and at least in part via processing at the ECU of frames of image data captured by the camera, the vehicular trailering assist system determines a hitch point of the trailer hitched to the vehicle (FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of a method of locating an imaged hitch point) & Para[0039] & Fig. 10 teaches imaged hitch point 172 may be determined. Para[0045] Referring to FIG. 13, a method of locating an imaged hitch point in images captured by the imaging device 34 , FIG. 10 is a search image having a proximity zone for jackknife detection and a number of candidate hitch point locations about which a template image can be rotated to determine an actual imaged hitch point and a hitch angle & Para[0041] & Fig. 3 teaches in the event the template image 158 crosses into the proximity zone 182 of the search image 171, the controller 38 determines that an imminent jackknife scenario is present and initiates a jackknife countermeasure at step 190).
Hu does not explicitly disclose wherein the camera comprises an imaging array having at least one million photosensors arranged in rows and columns. However discloses. However Gieseke discloses wherein the camera comprises an imaging array having at least one million photosensors arranged in rows and columns (para[0031] teaches imaging array has at least 300,000 photosensor elements or pixels, more preferably at least 500,000 photosensor elements or pixels and more preferably at least 1 million photosensor elements or pixels). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method of detecting a hitch angle between a vehicle and a trailer and controller defines a number of candidate lines in the edge map and determines the hitch angle based on an angle between a selected candidate line and a reference line of Hu with the method of vehicle cameras are disposed at the vehicle and a trailer camera is disposed at the trailer towed by the vehicle, responsive to processing of captured image data during forward and rearward motions of the vehicle and trailer of Gieseke in order to provide a system in which vehicle cameras are disposed at the vehicle and a trailer camera is disposed at the trailer towed by the vehicle, which enhances the efficiency of the driver assist system.
Hu in view of Gieseke does not explicitly disclose wherein the curved path comprises a U-turn of the vehicle; and wherein, with the vehicle not operating in the calibration state, and based in part on the determined hitch point of the trailer hitched to the vehicle, the vehicular trailering assist system determines a jack-knife angle of the trailer relative to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle. However Kyrtsos discloses and wherein, with the vehicle not operating in the calibration state, and based in part on the determined hitch point of the trailer hitched to the vehicle, the vehicular trailering assist system determines a jack-knife angle of the trailer relative to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle (Para0058] & FIG. 6, teaches it is desirable to limit the potential for the vehicle 14 and the trailer 12 to attain a jackknife angle (i.e., the vehicle/trailer system achieving a jackknife condition). A jackknife angle γ(j) refers to a hitch angle γ that, while vehicle 14 is backing, cannot be overcome by the maximum steering input for a vehicle such as, for example, the steered front wheels of the vehicle 14 being moved to a maximum steered angle δ at a maximum rate of steering angle change. The jackknife angle γ(j) is a function of a maximum wheel angle for the steered wheels of the vehicle 14, the wheel base W of the vehicle 14, the distance L between hitch point and the rear axle of the vehicle 14, and the trailer length D between the hitch point and the axle of the trailer 12 or the effective axle when the trailer 12 has multiple axles. When the hitch angle γ for the vehicle 14 and the trailer 12 achieves or exceeds the jackknife angle γ(j), the vehicle 14 may be pulled forward to reduce the hitch angle γ. Conversely, under continued backing of vehicle 14, the hitch angle γ will continue to increase, regardless of the steering input, toward a collision angle at which point trailer 12 may come into contact with vehicle 14. Thus, for limiting the potential for a vehicle/trailer system attaining a jackknife angle, it is preferable to control the yaw angle of the trailer 12 while keeping the hitch angle γ of the vehicle/trailer system relatively small). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method of detecting a hitch angle between a vehicle and a trailer and controller defines a number of candidate lines in the edge map & camera is disposed at the trailer towed by the vehicle, responsive to processing of captured image data during forward and rearward motions of the vehicle and trailer of Hu in view of Gieseke with the method of backup assist system for a vehicle reversing a trailer includes a hitch angle sensor providing a measured hitch angle of the trailer. The system also includes a controller determining a position of the measured hitch angle in relation to an unknown jackknife angle by monitoring a predetermined dynamic hitch angle characteristic derived from the measured hitch angle for a corresponding jackknife indicating characteristic of Kyrtsos in order to provide system in which a accuracy and reliability of hitch angle detection or estimation relative to the jackknife angle can be critical to the operation of the backup assist system.
Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos does not explicitly disclose wherein the curved path comprises a U-turn of the vehicle. However Lu discloses wherein the curved path comprises a U-turn of the vehicle (Para[0139] teaches 0139] Referring now to FIG. 21, the present invention may be used to assist a vehicle in a U-turn condition. In step 300, a U-turn is detected from the various sensors and/or inputs. For example, a push button on the instrument panel or one of the levers may be provided to assist or trigger the vehicle into an assist mode based upon a U-turn). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method of detecting a hitch angle between a vehicle and a trailer and controller defines a number of candidate lines in the edge map & camera is disposed at the trailer towed by the vehicle, responsive to processing of captured image data during forward and rearward motions of the vehicle and trailer with a predetermined dynamic hitch angle characteristic derived from the measured hitch angle for a corresponding jackknife indicating characteristic of Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtso with the method of controlling vehicle in U-turn of Lu in order to provide system used for controlling an automotive vehicle e.g. car, pickup truck, trailer and heavy duty truck, performing a U-turn.
Regarding claim 14, Hu discloses the vehicular trailering assist system of claim 11, wherein the vehicular trailering assist system, with the trailer hitched to the vehicle and while the vehicle is operating in the calibration state, and via processing at the ECU of frames of image data captured by the camera, determines a trailer template of the trailer hitched to the vehicle (Para[0037] teaches pixels having an edge value meeting or exceeding the threshold value are identified as trailer pixels whereas pixels having an edge value not meeting or exceeding the threshold value are identified as ground noise pixels. Once the trailer pixels have been identified, the controller 38 determines one or more trailer contours at step 150. The trailer contour(s) are saved to the memory 42 of the controller 38 as a template image at step 160 and may include a substantial entirety of the imaged trailer 12 or portions thereof. For purposes of illustration, a trailer contour 152 is shown in FIG. 8).
Regarding claim 15, Hu discloses the vehicular trailering assist system of claim 11, wherein the vehicular trailering assist system determines the hitch point of the trailer hitched to the vehicle based at least in part on the determined edges of the trailer (Para[0043] & FIG. 12 teaches at step 230, the controller 38 defines a number of candidate lines on the edge map 222. The candidate lines project outwardly from a common projection point, preferably the imaged hitch point 232. the candidate lines may vary from −90 degrees to 90 degrees with respect to a reference line 234 that is indicative of a predetermined hitch angle (e.g., a zero hitch angle) and extends vertically across the middle column of the edge map 222 and intersects the imaged hitch point 232. While the exact location of the imaged hitch point 232 may be unknown initially, the controller 38 may assign a default projection point from which to project the candidate lines. Since it's assumed the hitch point 232 will typically be located along the reference line 234 and usually falls within a predictable range (e.g., 10-20 centimeters from the rear bumper of the vehicle 14 . Para[0046] teaches at step 310, the controller 38 derives an edge map for both images by calculating the intensity gradient, or edge value, for each of their corresponding pixels. The reference line 326 is defined by the controller 38 and is assumed to coincide with the center longitudinal axis of an imaged drawbar 327 and intersect with an imaged hitch point 328 between the vehicle 14 and the trailer 12).
Claims 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu et al. (US 2017/0174128 A1) in view of Gieseke et al. (US 2017/0050672 A1) and Kyrtsos et al. (US 2017/0008560 A1) in further view of Lu et al. (US 2005/0206226 A1) and Oh et al. (US 2021/0129906 A1).
Regarding claim 12, Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos in further view of Lu discloses the vehicular trailering assist system of claim 11, Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos in further view of Lu does not explicitly disclose wherein, with the trailer hitched to the vehicle and while the vehicle is operating in the calibration state, the vehicular trailering assist system determines a current trailer angle based on a kinematic model. However Oh discloses wherein, with the trailer hitched to the vehicle and while the vehicle is operating in the calibration state, the vehicular trailering assist system determines a current trailer angle based on a kinematic model (Para[0027] teaches the determined trailer angle γ and the process for the detection of the same is useable as an aspect of the system 10 that includes functionality for controlling a backing path of the trailer 12 when attached to the vehicle 14. In such an example, the system 10 can implement such control by allowing a driver of the vehicle 14 to specify a desired curvature 26 of the backing path of the trailer 12. The controller 28, in addition to determining the trailer angle γ, as discussed above, controls a steering system 62 of the vehicle 14 using the angle γ of the trailer 12 in a kinematic model of the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 combination to maintain the vehicle 14 along a backing path. Para[0057] teaches FIGS. 11-14, the illustrated hitch angle detection method can be used within a method for reversing a trailer that includes controlling the steering system 62 of the vehicle 14 using the determined hitch angle γ (i.e., the angle of the trailer 12 with respect to the vehicle 14) in the kinematic model (FIG. 11) of the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 combination to maintain the vehicle 14 along backing path P (FIG. 14)). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method of detecting a hitch angle between a vehicle and a trailer and controller defines a number of candidate lines in the edge map & camera is disposed at the trailer towed by the vehicle, responsive to processing of captured image data during forward and rearward motions of the vehicle and trailer with a predetermined dynamic hitch angle characteristic derived from the measured hitch angle for a corresponding jackknife indicating characteristic of Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos in further view of Lu with the method to correlate determined position of Edge of Trailer relative to Vehicle To Determine Angle Of Trailer Relative To Vehicle About Coupling Point of Oh in order to provide a system in which accurate detection of the edge of the trailer is realized.
Regarding claim 13, Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos in further view of Lu and Oh discloses the vehicular trailering assist system of claim 12, Lu further discloses U-turn (Para[0139] FIG. 21 7 teaches the present invention may be used to assist a vehicle in a U-turn condition. In step 300, a U-turn is detected from the various sensors and/or inputs. For example, a push button on the instrument panel or one of the levers may be provided to assist or trigger the vehicle into an assist mode based upon a U-turn). Oh further discloses wherein the vehicular trailering assist system determines the current trailer angle based on the kinematic model after the vehicle completes a threshold portion of the turn (Para[0048] teaches with particular reference to FIG. 11, the trailer angle γ determined using radar system 46 can be used as an input to a control algorithm (e.g., curvature routine 98) that uses vehicle and trailer information and parameters to calculate a kinematic relationship between a curvature of a path of travel of the trailer 12 and the steering angle of the vehicle 14 towing the trailer 12, which can be desirable for a trailer backup assist system). Motivation to combine as indicated I claim 12.
Claims 16, 19-21, 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu et al. (US 2017/0174128 A1) in view of Gieseke et al. (US 2017/0050672 A1) and Kyrtsos et al. (US 2017/0008560 A1) and Lu et al. (US 2005/0206226 A1) in further view of Lavoie et al. (US 2016/0039456 A1).
Regarding claim 16, Hu discloses a vehicular trailering assist system, the vehicular trailering assist system comprising: a camera disposed at a rear portion of a vehicle equipped with the vehicular trailering assist system, the camera viewing at least rearward of the vehicle (Para[0028] teaches the trailer backup assist system 10 also includes an imaging device 34 located at the rear of the vehicle 14 and configured to image a rear-vehicle scene); wherein, with a trailer hitched to the vehicle, the camera views at least a portion of the trailer hitched to the vehicle para[0028] teaches the imaging device 34 has a field of view 36 located and oriented to capture one or more images that may include the tongue 26 of the trailer 12 and the hitch ball 30, among other things); wherein the camera is operable to capture frames of image data (Abstract teaches imaging device is configured to capture images of the trailer and a controller is configured to process the captured images); an electronic control unit (ECU) comprising electronic circuitry and associated software (Fig. 2 teaches controller 38); wherein the electronic circuitry comprises an image processor operable to process frames of image data captured by the camera (Para[0028] teaches the controller 38 is configured with a microprocessor 40 and/or other analog and/or digital circuitry for processing one or more logic routines); wherein frames of image data captured by the camera are transferred to and are processed at the ECU (Para[0028] teaches captured images are supplied to a controller 38 of the trailer backup assist system 10 and are processed by the controller 38 to determine the hitch angle between the vehicle 14 and the trailer 12); wherein, with the trailer hitched to the vehicle and while the vehicle is operating in a calibration state and being driven straight (Para[0061] teaches when the yaw rate of the vehicle 14 and the trailer 12 become equal, the hitch angle γ and the steering angle δ will be constant. This condition, referred to herein as steady state, can occur when a steering command is steadily maintained during a backing maneuver such as when the trailer 12 is reversed in a straight line with the vehicle 14 or when the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 are turning at a constant curvature for at least a threshold period of time or over a threshold distance of motion. Para[0068]- [0069] teaches controller 38 proceeds to step 620 to determine whether the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 are moving in a straight direction. Steady state condition may be satisfied when the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 are moving in a straight direction)), and at least in part via processing at the ECU of frames of image data captured by the camera (para[0010] FIG. 4 is a captured image showing a trailer in straight alignment with a vehicle, para[0036] teaches while the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 are engaged in the straight pull maneuver, the controller 38 derives an averaged image of all images captured by the imaging device 34 during a period of time at step 120. Para[0068] teaches If it is determined that the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 are moving in a straight direction, the controller 38 proceeds to step 625 and processes images captured by the imaging device 34 ) , the vehicular trailering assist system determines edges of the trailer (Para[0037], [0043] teaches or edge value, for each pixel in the averaged image. At step 220, the controller 38 identifies trailer pixels in the edge map by comparing the edge value of each pixel to a threshold value and selecting only those pixels meeting or exceeding the threshold value to correspond to trailer pixels. Para[0046] teaches . At step 310, the controller 38 derives an edge map for both images by calculating the intensity gradient, or edge value, for each of their corresponding pixels.);); wherein, with the trailer hitched to the vehicle and after the vehicle is driven straight and while the vehicle is operating in the calibration state and being driven along a curved path (Para[0027], [0029] & FIGS. 1 and 2 teaches, reference numeral 10 generally designates a trailer backup assist system for controlling a backing path of a trailer 12 attached to a vehicle 14 by allowing a driver of the vehicle 14 to specify a desired curvature of the backing path of the trailer 12, A steering input device 54 may be provided to enable a driver to control or otherwise modify the desired curvature of the backing path of the trailer 12.Para[0061] teaches as steady state, can occur when a steering command is steadily maintained during a backing maneuver such as when the trailer 12 is reversed in a straight line with the vehicle 14 or when the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 are turning at a constant curvature for at least a threshold period of time or over a threshold distance of motion, Para[0069] teaches once the centerline method is selected, the controller 38 will continue to determine the hitch angle via the centerline method until a steady state condition is satisfied at step 640. As described previously herein, the steady state condition may be satisfied when the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 are moving in a straight direction or moving along a path at constant curvature), and at least in part via processing at the ECU of frames of image data captured by the camera, the vehicular trailering assist system determines a hitch point of the trailer hitched to the vehicle (FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of a method of locating an imaged hitch point) & Para[0038]- [0039] & Fig. 10 teaches imaged hitch point 172 may be determined. Para[0043], [0045] Referring to FIG. 13, a method of locating an imaged hitch point in images captured by the imaging device 34 ); the vehicular trailering assist system determines a jack-knife angle of the trailer relative to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle (FIG. 10 is a search image having a proximity zone for jackknife detection and a number of candidate hitch point locations about which a template image can be rotated to determine an actual imaged hitch point and a hitch angle & Para[0041] & Fig. 3 teaches in the event the template image 158 crosses into the proximity zone 182 of the search image 171, the controller 38 determines that an imminent jackknife scenario is present and initiates a jackknife countermeasure at step 190).
Hu does not explicitly disclose wherein the camera comprises an imaging array having at least one million photosensors arranged in rows and columns; wherein the curved path comprises a U-turn of the vehicle; wherein, with the trailer hitched to the vehicle and while the vehicle is operating in the calibration state and being driven along the curved path, trailer angle of the trailer relative to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle remains constant; and wherein, with the vehicle not operating in the calibration state, and based in part on the determined hitch point of the trailer hitched to the vehicle, the vehicular trailering assist system determines a jack-knife angle of the trailer relative to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle However Gieseke discloses wherein the camera comprises an imaging array having at least one million photosensors arranged in rows and columns (para[0031] teaches imaging array has at least 300,000 photosensor elements or pixels, more preferably at least 500,000 photosensor elements or pixels and more preferably at least 1 million photosensor elements or pixels). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method of detecting a hitch angle between a vehicle and a trailer and controller defines a number of candidate lines in the edge map and determines the hitch angle based on an angle between a selected candidate line and a reference line of Hu with the method of vehicle cameras are disposed at the vehicle and a trailer camera is disposed at the trailer towed by the vehicle, responsive to processing of captured image data during forward and rearward motions of the vehicle and trailer of Gieseke in order to provide a system in which vehicle cameras are disposed at the vehicle and a trailer camera is disposed at the trailer towed by the vehicle, which enhances the efficiency of the driver assist system.
Hu in view of Gieseke does not explicitly disclose and wherein, with the vehicle not operating in the calibration state, and based in part on the determined hitch point of the trailer hitched to the vehicle, the vehicular trailering assist system determines a jack-knife angle of the trailer relative to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle. However Kyrtsos discloses and wherein, with the vehicle not operating in the calibration state, and based in part on the determined hitch point of the trailer hitched to the vehicle, the vehicular trailering assist system determines a jack-knife angle of the trailer relative to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle (Para0058] & FIG. 6, teaches it is desirable to limit the potential for the vehicle 14 and the trailer 12 to attain a jackknife angle (i.e., the vehicle/trailer system achieving a jackknife condition). A jackknife angle γ(j) refers to a hitch angle γ that, while vehicle 14 is backing, cannot be overcome by the maximum steering input for a vehicle such as, for example, the steered front wheels of the vehicle 14 being moved to a maximum steered angle δ at a maximum rate of steering angle change. The jackknife angle γ(j) is a function of a maximum wheel angle for the steered wheels of the vehicle 14, the wheel base W of the vehicle 14, the distance L between hitch point and the rear axle of the vehicle 14, and the trailer length D between the hitch point and the axle of the trailer 12 or the effective axle when the trailer 12 has multiple axles. When the hitch angle γ for the vehicle 14 and the trailer 12 achieves or exceeds the jackknife angle γ(j), the vehicle 14 may be pulled forward to reduce the hitch angle γ. Conversely, under continued backing of vehicle 14, the hitch angle γ will continue to increase, regardless of the steering input, toward a collision angle at which point trailer 12 may come into contact with vehicle 14. Thus, for limiting the potential for a vehicle/trailer system attaining a jackknife angle, it is preferable to control the yaw angle of the trailer 12 while keeping the hitch angle γ of the vehicle/trailer system relatively small). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method of detecting a hitch angle between a vehicle and a trailer and controller defines a number of candidate lines in the edge map & camera is disposed at the trailer towed by the vehicle, responsive to processing of captured image data during forward and rearward motions of the vehicle and trailer of Hu in view of Gieseke with the method of backup assist system for a vehicle reversing a trailer includes a hitch angle sensor providing a measured hitch angle of the trailer. The system also includes a controller determining a position of the measured hitch angle in relation to an unknown jackknife angle by monitoring a predetermined dynamic hitch angle characteristic derived from the measured hitch angle for a corresponding jackknife indicating characteristic of Kyrtsos in order to provide system in which a accuracy and reliability of hitch angle detection or estimation relative to the jackknife angle can be critical to the operation of the backup assist system.
Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos does not explicitly disclose wherein the curved path comprises a U-turn of the vehicle; wherein, with the trailer hitched to the vehicle and while the vehicle is operating in the calibration state and being driven along the curved path, trailer angle of the trailer relative to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle remains constant. However Lu discloses wherein the curved path comprises a U-turn of the vehicle (Para[0139] teaches 0139] Referring now to FIG. 21, the present invention may be used to assist a vehicle in a U-turn condition. In step 300, a U-turn is detected from the various sensors and/or inputs. For example, a push button on the instrument panel or one of the levers may be provided to assist or trigger the vehicle into an assist mode based upon a U-turn). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method of detecting a hitch angle between a vehicle and a trailer and controller defines a number of candidate lines in the edge map & camera is disposed at the trailer towed by the vehicle, responsive to processing of captured image data during forward and rearward motions of the vehicle and trailer with a predetermined dynamic hitch angle characteristic derived from the measured hitch angle for a corresponding jackknife indicating characteristic of Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtso with the method of controlling vehicle in U-turn of Lu in order to provide system used for controlling an automotive vehicle e.g. car, pickup truck, trailer and heavy duty truck, performing a U-turn.
Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos in further view of Lu does not explicitly disclose wherein, with the trailer hitched to the vehicle and while the vehicle is operating in the calibration state and being driven along the curved path, trailer angle of the trailer relative to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle remains constant. However Lavoie discloses wherein, with the trailer hitched to the vehicle and while the vehicle is operating in the calibration state and being driven along the curved path, trailer angle of the trailer relative to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle remains constant (Para[0185] teaches for the trailer backup assist system 105, it is advantageous to use information that is representative of an angle between the vehicle and a trailer attached to the vehicle, also known as the hitch angle γ or trailer angle. Para[0254] teaches When this steady state condition is met, the expected trailer angle is calculated and the difference between the expected trailer angle and the measured trailer angle is determined as the offset. The vehicle steady state indicator may include one or more of the following: the vehicle yaw rate is constant, the steering wheel or road wheel angle is constant, or the steering wheel or road wheel angle rate is substantially zero. The trailer steady state indicator may include one or more of the following: the trailer yaw rate is constant, or the trailer hitch angle is constant, or the trailer hitch angle rate is substantially zero. When the curvature command is zero while the vehicle is driven in reverse, the expected trailer angle is zero, and the offset is calculated from the difference from zero to the measured angle. However, it should be appreciated that the offset may be calculated when the curvature command is not at zero during a non-straight travel path.). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method of detecting a hitch angle between a vehicle and a trailer and controller defines a number of candidate lines in the edge map & camera is disposed at the trailer towed by the vehicle, responsive to processing of captured image data during forward and rearward motions of the vehicle and trailer with a predetermined dynamic hitch angle characteristic derived from the measured hitch angle for a corresponding jackknife indicating characteristic of Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtso in further view of Lu with a method to provide a constant hitch angle measurement of Lavoie in order to provide a system allows a trailer curvature control mechanism to exhibit reduced steering sensitivity and effectiveness when the vehicle is at relatively high speeds and when undergoing relatively high acceleration.
Regarding claim 19, Hu discloses the vehicular trailering assist system of claim 16, wherein the vehicular trailering assist system determines edges of the trailer via processing of less than ten frames of image data (Para[0046] teaches At step 310, the controller 38 derives an edge map for both images by calculating the intensity gradient, or edge value, for each of their corresponding pixels).
Regarding claim 20, Hu discloses The vehicular trailering assist system of claim 16, wherein the vehicular trailering assist system, with the trailer hitched to the vehicle and while the vehicle is operating in the calibration state, and via processing at the ECU of frames of image data captured by the camera, determines a trailer template of the trailer hitched to the vehicle Para[0037] teaches pixels having an edge value meeting or exceeding the threshold value are identified as trailer pixels whereas pixels having an edge value not meeting or exceeding the threshold value are identified as ground noise pixels. Once the trailer pixels have been identified, the controller 38 determines one or more trailer contours at step 150. The trailer contour(s) are saved to the memory 42 of the controller 38 as a template image at step 160 and may include a substantial entirety of the imaged trailer 12 or portions thereof. For purposes of illustration, a trailer contour 152 is shown in FIG. 8). .
Regarding claim 21, Hu discloses the vehicular trailering assist system of claim 16, wherein the vehicular trailering assist system, responsive to determining edges of the trailer, matches determined edges to the determined trailer template of the trailer hitched to the vehicle (Para[0043] & FIG. 12 teaches at step 230, the controller 38 defines a number of candidate lines on the edge map 222. The candidate lines project outwardly from a common projection point, preferably the imaged hitch point 232. the candidate lines may vary from −90 degrees to 90 degrees with respect to a reference line 234 that is indicative of a predetermined hitch angle (e.g., a zero hitch angle) and extends vertically across the middle column of the edge map 222 and intersects the imaged hitch point 232. While the exact location of the imaged hitch point 232 may be unknown initially, the controller 38 may assign a default projection point from which to project the candidate lines. Since it's assumed the hitch point 232 will typically be located along the reference line 234 and usually falls within a predictable range (e.g., 10-20 centimeters from the rear bumper of the vehicle 14 . Para[0046] teaches at step 310, the controller 38 derives an edge map for both images by calculating the intensity gradient, or edge value, for each of their corresponding pixels. The reference line 326 is defined by the controller 38 and is assumed to coincide with the center longitudinal axis of an imaged drawbar 327 and intersect with an imaged hitch point 328 between the vehicle 14 and the trailer 12).
Regarding claim 23, Hu discloses the vehicular trailering assist system of claim 16, wherein the vehicular trailering assist system determines the hitch point of the trailer hitched to the vehicle based at least in part on the determined edges of the trailer (Para[0043] & FIG. 12 teaches at step 230, the controller 38 defines a number of candidate lines on the edge map 222. The candidate lines project outwardly from a common projection point, preferably the imaged hitch point 232. the candidate lines may vary from −90 degrees to 90 degrees with respect to a reference line 234 that is indicative of a predetermined hitch angle (e.g., a zero hitch angle) and extends vertically across the middle column of the edge map 222 and intersects the imaged hitch point 232. While the exact location of the imaged hitch point 232 may be unknown initially, the controller 38 may assign a default projection point from which to project the candidate lines. Since it's assumed the hitch point 232 will typically be located along the reference line 234 and usually falls within a predictable range (e.g., 10-20 centimeters from the rear bumper of the vehicle 14 . Para[0046] teaches at step 310, the controller 38 derives an edge map for both images by calculating the intensity gradient, or edge value, for each of their corresponding pixels. The reference line 326 is defined by the controller 38 and is assumed to coincide with the center longitudinal axis of an imaged drawbar 327 and intersect with an imaged hitch point 328 between the vehicle 14 and the trailer 12).
Claims 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu et al. (US 2017/0174128 A1) in view of Gieseke et al. (US 2017/0050672 A1) and Kyrtsos et al. (US 2017/0008560 A1) in further view of Lu et al. (US 2005/0206226 A1) and Lavoie et al. (US 2016/0039456 A1) and Oh et al. (US 2021/0129906 A1).
Regarding claim 17, Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos in further view of Lu and Lavoie discloses the vehicular trailering assist system of claim 16, Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos in further view of Lu and Lavoie does not explicitly disclose wherein, with the trailer hitched to the vehicle and while the vehicle is operating in the calibration state, the vehicular trailering assist system determines a current trailer angle based on a kinematic model. However Oh discloses wherein, with the trailer hitched to the vehicle and while the vehicle is operating in the calibration state, the vehicular trailering assist system determines a current trailer angle based on a kinematic model (Para[0027] teaches the determined trailer angle γ and the process for the detection of the same is useable as an aspect of the system 10 that includes functionality for controlling a backing path of the trailer 12 when attached to the vehicle 14. In such an example, the system 10 can implement such control by allowing a driver of the vehicle 14 to specify a desired curvature 26 of the backing path of the trailer 12. The controller 28, in addition to determining the trailer angle γ, as discussed above, controls a steering system 62 of the vehicle 14 using the angle γ of the trailer 12 in a kinematic model of the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 combination to maintain the vehicle 14 along a backing path. Para[0057] teaches FIGS. 11-14, the illustrated hitch angle detection method can be used within a method for reversing a trailer that includes controlling the steering system 62 of the vehicle 14 using the determined hitch angle γ (i.e., the angle of the trailer 12 with respect to the vehicle 14) in the kinematic model (FIG. 11) of the vehicle 14 and trailer 12 combination to maintain the vehicle 14 along backing path P (FIG. 14)). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method of detecting a hitch angle between a vehicle and a trailer and controller defines a number of candidate lines in the edge map & camera is disposed at the trailer towed by the vehicle, responsive to processing of captured image data during forward and rearward motions of the vehicle and trailer with a predetermined dynamic hitch angle characteristic derived from the measured hitch angle for a corresponding jackknife indicating characteristic of Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos in further view of Lu and Lavoie with the method to correlate determined position of Edge of Trailer relative to Vehicle To Determine Angle Of Trailer Relative To Vehicle About Coupling Point of Oh in order to provide a system in which accurate detection of the edge of the trailer is realized.
Regarding claim 18, Oh discloses the vehicular trailering assist system of claim 17, wherein the vehicular trailering assist system determines the current trailer angle based on the kinematic model after the vehicle completes a threshold portion of a turn (Para[0048] teaches with particular reference to FIG. 11, the trailer angle γ determined using radar system 46 can be used as an input to a control algorithm (e.g., curvature routine 98) that uses vehicle and trailer information and parameters to calculate a kinematic relationship between a curvature of a path of travel of the trailer 12 and the steering angle of the vehicle 14 towing the trailer 12, which can be desirable for a trailer backup assist system). Motivation to combine as indicated in claim 17.
Claim 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu et al. (US 2017/0174128 A1) in view of Gieseke et al. (US 2017/0050672 A1) and Kyrtsos et al. (US 2017/0008560 A1) in further view of Lu et al. (US 2005/0206226 A1) and Lavoie et al. (US 2016/0039456 A1) and Niewiadomski et al. (US 2021/0078374 A1)
Regarding claim 22, Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos in further view of Lu and Lavoie discloses the vehicular trailering assist system of claim 21. Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos in further view of Lu and Lavoie does not explicitly disclose wherein the vehicular trailering assist system determines location of a hitch ball of the vehicle. However Niewiadomski discloses wherein the vehicular trailering assist system determines location of a hitch ball of the vehicle (Para[0052] teaches the hitch assist system 10 searches for a circular shape indicative of the hitch ball 34 in the rear camera image data 55. The hitch assist system 10 expects the hitch ball to be laterally aligned with the center 36 of the vehicle 12 within a range 122 of distance from a vehicle bumper 124, in which the range 122 includes a maximum and a minimum distance to detect the hitch ball 34). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method of detecting a hitch angle between a vehicle and a trailer and controller defines a number of candidate lines in the edge map & camera is disposed at the trailer towed by the vehicle, responsive to processing of captured image data during forward and rearward motions of the vehicle and trailer with a predetermined dynamic hitch angle characteristic derived from the measured hitch angle for a corresponding jackknife indicating characteristic of Hu in view of Gieseke and Kyrtsos in further view of Lu and Lavoie with the fixed offset provides significant reduction in aborts of Niewiadomski in order to provide a system clutch assistance system, or misalignment between the hitch ball and coupler due to improper clutch detection in the image data from the imaging system.
Conclusion
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/ROWINA J CATTUNGAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2425
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