Patent ID: 11866033
Assignee: VOLVO TRUCK CORPORATION
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC B  G

Claim 0:
1. A method for estimating an effective length of a first vehicle segment of a vehicle combination, the vehicle combination comprising:
a towing vehicle which is connected to the first vehicle segment via a first articulation joint; and
a perception sensor mounted on one of the towing vehicle and the first vehicle segment and arranged to obtain images of the other one of the towing vehicle and the first vehicle segment;
the method comprising:
identifying that the vehicle combination is provided in a first steady vehicle state, wherein a steady vehicle state is indicative of a condition where an articulation angle of the first articulation joint has reached a stationary angular state corresponding to a specific steering angle of steerable ground engaging means of the towing vehicle;
identifying that a turning and driving maneuver is initiated, wherein the turning and driving maneuver comprises changing the steering angle by a specific angular change and driving the vehicle combination with a specific speed from the first steady vehicle state;
identifying when the vehicle combination reaches a second steady vehicle state by use of the images obtained by the perception sensor, wherein at least one of the first steady vehicle state and the second steady vehicle state is a state in which the vehicle combination is in motion;
determining a time period required for driving the vehicle combination from the first steady vehicle state to the second steady vehicle state; and
estimating the effective length by use of the time period, a value indicative of the specific angular change, and a value indicative of the specific speed.