A method of detecting degradation of an optical target (30, figure 2) on a trailer (110). The method includes generating a first set of data corresponding to optical characteristics of an optical target on a trailer, and generating a second set of data corresponding to optical characteristics of the optical target after generating the first set of data. An alert is provided if differences between the first and second sets of data exceed predefined criteria indicating that the target has degraded. The predefined criteria may comprise fading or other suitable optical characteristics of the target. The sets of data may comprise image histogram data, obtained using a vehicle mounted camera (20), which includes colour specific data corresponding to first and second colours. Alternatively the data may comprise greyscale pixels. The first and second sets of data may be used to predict when the optical target should be replaced, said target forming part of a trailer backup assist system.
Trailer angle detection target fade warning
2016-05-04
Patent
Electronic Resource
English