The trailer system offers efficiency of transportation capability. However, it is difficult to control the backward motion. It is an open loop unstable problem. To solve this problem, we are proposed the driver assistance system. Driver assistance system assists a driver to control the backward motion of trailer system as if forward motion. A driver only secure the rear view of last passive trailer, and select the control input to drive the last passive trailer. The driver assistance system converts the control input of the driver into velocity and steering angle of the vehicle using the inverse kinematics. It is possible by electronic control input devices and the rear view camera. Effectiveness of driving assistance system is verified by the simulation and the experiments.
It is difficult to find a practical solution for the backward-motion control of a car-like mobile robot with n passive trailers. Unlike an omni-directional robot, a car-like mobile robot has nonholonomic constraints and limitations of the steering angle. For these reasons, the backward motion control problem of a car-like mobile robot with n passive trailers is not trivial. In spite of difficulties, backing up a trailer system is useful for parking control. In this study, we proposed a mechanical alteration which is connecting n passive trailers to the front bumper of a car to improve the backward motion control performance. Theoretical verification and simulations show that the backward-motion control of a general car with n passive trailers can be successfully carried out by using the proposed approach.