Patent Document ID: 9934572
Application ID: 14972956
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method of locating an imaged hitch point between a vehicle and a trailer, comprising the steps of: capturing images of the trailer using an imaging device; providing a controller configured to: a) select two images captured by the imaging device; b) derive an edge map for each of the two images, c) define a detection window centered at a common pixel position in each of the two images; d) calculate an average pixel intensity of the pixels bounded by each detection window; e) calculate an averaged pixel difference defined as an absolute value of the difference between the average pixel intensities calculated at d); f) shift each detection window in a common direction such that the detection window in each of the two images is centered at a new common pixel position, g) iterate d)-f) until the calculated averaged pixel difference meets or exceeds a threshold value; and h) select as the imaged hitch point, the common pixel position associated with the calculated averaged pixel difference that meets or exceeds the threshold value.