Systems and method for controlling braking at a trailer based on forward looking imaging sensor data

1 . A system comprising:

memory; and

at least one processor in communication with the memory and configured to:

receive instructions to initiate braking of a vehicle and a trailer coupled with the vehicle;

receive information from an imaging sensor, the information comprising at least data regarding a forward-looking view from the vehicle;

receive vehicle performance information regarding the vehicle and the trailer;

determine a predicted path of the vehicle and trailer based on the information from the imaging sensor and the vehicle performance information;

determine autonomous braking controls for the vehicle and the trailer based on the predicted path; and

transmit the autonomous braking controls to the trailer, where the autonomous braking controls are configured to adjust a braking pressure level and a braking duration at the trailer as the vehicle and trailer travel through at least a portion of the predicted path;

wherein:

the predicted path indicates a curve within a braking zone of the vehicle and the trailer; and

the autonomous braking controls for the trailer in the braking zone comprise a pulsing duty cycle that is adjusted based on a degree of a radius of the curve in the braking zone and a speed of the vehicle.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the video information further comprises at least one of road lane information regarding a path of the vehicle or road curvature information regarding the path of the vehicle.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle performance information regarding the vehicle and the trailer comprises at least one of a speed of the vehicle or a mass of the vehicle and the trailer.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to retrieve the pulsing duty cycle from a lookup table.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to calculate the pulsing duty cycle based on the degree of the radius of the curve and the speed of the vehicle in the braking zone.

6 . A system comprising:

memory; and

at least one processor in communication with the memory and configured to:

receive instructions to initiate braking of a vehicle and a trailer coupled with the vehicle;

receive information from an imaging sensor, the information comprising at least data regarding a forward-looking view from the vehicle;

receive vehicle performance information regarding the vehicle and the trailer;

determine a predicted path of the vehicle and trailer based on the information from the imaging sensor and the vehicle performance information;

determine autonomous braking controls for the vehicle and the trailer based on the predicted path; and

transmit the autonomous braking controls to the trailer, where the autonomous braking controls are configured to adjust a braking pressure level and a braking duration at the trailer as the vehicle and trailer travel through at least a portion of the predicted path;

wherein:

the predicated path comprises a first braking zone and a second braking zone in a path of the vehicle, wherein the first braking zone is a straight path and the second braking zone includes a curve; and

the autonomous braking controls for the trailer in the first braking zone in the predicted path provide for up to full braking and the autonomous braking controls for the trailer in the second braking zone in the predicted path comprise a pulsing duty cycle that is adjusted based on a degree of a radius of the curve and a speed of the vehicle in the second braking zone.

7 . A system comprising:

memory; and

at least one processor in communication with the memory and configured to:

receive instructions to initiate braking of a vehicle and a trailer coupled with the vehicle;

receive information from an imaging sensor, the information comprising at least data regarding a forward-looking view from the vehicle;

receive vehicle performance information regarding the vehicle and the trailer;

determine a predicted path of the vehicle and trailer based on the information from the imaging sensor and the vehicle performance information;

determine autonomous braking controls for the vehicle and the trailer based on the predicted path; and

transmit the autonomous braking controls to the trailer, where the autonomous braking controls are configured to adjust a braking pressure level and a braking duration at the trailer as the vehicle and trailer travel through at least a portion of the predicted path;

wherein:

the predicated path comprises a first braking zone and a second braking zone in a path of the vehicle, wherein the first braking zone is a first curve and the second braking zone includes a second curve, where the first and second curves have different radius of curvature;

the braking controls for the trailer in the first braking zone in the predicted path comprise a first duty cycle that is adjusted based on a degree of a radius of the curve and a speed of the vehicle in the first braking zone; and

the braking controls for the trailer in the second braking zone in the predicted path comprise a second pulsing duty cycle that is adjusted based on the degree of the radius of the curve and the speed of the vehicle in the second braking zone.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the imaging sensor comprises at least one of a camera, LiDAR, or radar.

9 . A method comprising:

receiving, with at least one processor, instructions to initiate braking of a vehicle and a trailer coupled with the vehicle;

receive, with the at least one processor, information from an imaging sensor, the information comprising at least data regarding a forward-looking view from the vehicle;

receive, with the at least one processor, vehicle performance information regarding the vehicle and the trailer;

determining, with the at least one processor, a predicted path of the vehicle and trailer based on the information from the imaging sensor and the vehicle performance information;

determining, with the at least one processor, autonomous braking controls for the vehicle and the trailer based on the predicted path; and

transmitting, with the at least one processor, the autonomous braking controls to the trailer, where the autonomous braking controls are configured to adjust a braking pressure level and a braking duration at the trailer as the vehicle and trailer travel through at least a portion of the predicted path;

wherein:

the predicted path indicates a curve within a braking zone of the vehicle and the trailer; and

the autonomous braking controls for the trailer in the braking zone comprise a pulsing duty cycle that is adjusted based on a degree of a radius of the curve in the braking zone and a speed of the vehicle.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the video information further comprises at least one of road lane information regarding a path of the vehicle or road curvature information regarding the path of the vehicle.

11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the vehicle performance information regarding the vehicle and the trailer comprises at least one of a speed of the vehicle or a mass of the vehicle and the trailer.

12 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

retrieving, with the at least one processor, the pulsing duty cycle from a lookup table.

13 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

calculating, with the at least one processor, the pulsing duty cycle based on the radius of the degree of the curve and the speed of the vehicle in the braking zone.

14 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the imaging sensor comprises at least one of a camera, LiDAR, or radar.