An automatic switching method and system for vehicle high beam and low beam

Abstract

The application discloses an automatic switching method and system of a vehicle high beam and low beam, and belongs to the field of vehicle light control. The method comprises the following steps: acquiring global light intensity lux of a current vehicle, vehicle upper half area light intensity cal_lux, a wiper gear position, a fog lamp state, a light control gear position, a vehicle speed, a steering wheel rotation angle and other information; judging whether the vehicle meets preset various high beam and low beam switching conditions when the vehicle is in a high beam or a low beam according to the acquired information, and automatically switching the high beam and the low beam when the conditions are met. The application optimizes the automatic switching of the high beam and the low beam in multiple scenes and in all directions, is closer to the use expectation of a driver, and meanwhile, influences on other road users is avoided.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application belongs to the field of vehicle light control, and particularly relates to an automatic switching method and system for high beam and low beam of a vehicle. BACKGROUND

[0002] Although the existing automatic switching system for high beam and low beam can basically meet the demand of intelligent switching and reduce the operation burden of the driver in a certain extent, it still has many deficiencies, which affects the driver's field of view of the oncoming vehicle, the vehicle without light or the moving vehicle passing vertically, and buries the safety hazard for both driving safety, or causes trouble for the roadside pedestrians with sparse street lamps.

[0003] The existing automatic switching system for high beam and low beam mainly has the following defects:

[0004] 1. It cannot achieve the effect of fast switching from high beam to low beam (avoiding dazzling the oncoming vehicle) and slow switching from low beam to high beam (avoiding frequent switching of high beam and low beam leading to flashing light).

[0005] 2. The threshold value of the vehicle speed for turning on the high beam is high, and it is difficult to switch to the high beam when driving on a mountain road.

[0006] 3. The turning on of the high beam is not inhibited in heavy rain (high-speed wiper) and fog (fog lamp is turned on), which leads to the driver being dazzled by the reflected high beam.

[0007] 4. The change of the light state is not inhibited when the steering wheel is turned at a large angle, which leads to flashing light at the sharp turn and affects the field of view of the oncoming driver.

[0008] 5. Only the vehicle light and the illumination are used as the judgment conditions, and the point light source (such as street lamp) and whether the road vehicle is moving are not used as the judgment conditions. SUMMARY

[0009] The present application aims at overcoming the deficiencies of the prior art, and provides an automatic switching method and system for high beam and low beam of a vehicle.

[0010] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the technical scheme adopted by the present application is as follows: an automatic switching method for high beam and low beam of a vehicle, the method comprising: acquiring the global illumination lux and the upper half area illumination cal_lux of the current vehicle;

[0011] When the vehicle is in the low beam, if it is detected that the lux is less than the first global illumination threshold value or the cal_lux is less than the first upper half area illumination threshold value, it is judged whether there is always the condition that the lux is less than or equal to the second global illumination threshold value and the cal_lux is less than or equal to the second upper half area illumination threshold value in the first continuous time thereafter, and if so, the vehicle is allowed to switch from the low beam to the high beam.

[0012] If the lux is greater than the second global illuminance threshold and the cal_lux is greater than the second upper half zone illuminance threshold, it is determined whether there is always the lux being greater than or equal to the first global illuminance threshold and the cal_lux being greater than or equal to the first upper half zone illuminance threshold in the second continuous time after that, and if there is, the vehicle switches the high beam to the low beam.

[0013] The first global illuminance threshold is less than the second global illuminance threshold, and the first upper half zone illuminance threshold is less than the second upper half zone illuminance threshold.

[0014] Preferably, before the switching of the high beam and the low beam, the method further comprises further determining according to the steering wheel angle, i.e. if the steering wheel angle is greater than or equal to a preset angle threshold, the vehicle keeps the current light state unchanged, and if the steering wheel angle is less than the preset angle threshold, the switching of the high beam and the low beam is allowed.

[0015] Preferably, the method further comprises identifying whether there is a moving vehicle in front of the vehicle by a front-view camera of the vehicle, and if there is, the vehicle is not allowed to switch from the low beam to the high beam, or the vehicle is immediately switched from the high beam to the low beam.

[0016] Preferably, the method further comprises identifying whether there is a point light source in front of the vehicle by the front-view camera of the vehicle, the point light source including a street lamp, and if there is, the vehicle is not allowed to switch from the low beam to the high beam, or the vehicle is immediately switched from the high beam to the low beam.

[0017] Preferably, the method further comprises determining whether a soft switch of an intelligent high beam control system IHBC of the vehicle is turned on, and if not, the vehicle is not allowed to switch from the low beam to the high beam, or the vehicle is immediately switched from the high beam to the low beam.

[0018] Preferably, the method further comprises determining whether a light control gear is not on an AUTO gear, and if not, the vehicle is not allowed to switch from the low beam to the high beam, or the vehicle is immediately switched from the high beam to the low beam.

[0019] Preferably, the method further comprises determining whether a wiper is in a high-speed gear, and if so, the vehicle is not allowed to switch from the low beam to the high beam, or the vehicle is immediately switched from the high beam to the low beam.

[0020] Preferably, the method further comprises determining whether a fog lamp of the vehicle is turned on, and if so, the vehicle is not allowed to switch from the low beam to the high beam, or the vehicle is immediately switched from the high beam to the low beam.

[0021] Preferably, the method further comprises: if the current vehicle speed is less than a preset high beam closing speed threshold, disallowing the vehicle to switch from the low beam to the high beam, or immediately switching the vehicle from the high beam to the low beam; if the current vehicle speed is greater than a preset high beam opening speed threshold, allowing the vehicle to switch from the low beam to the high beam.

[0022] Meanwhile, the application provides an automatic switching system for high and low beam lights of a vehicle, which is constructed according to the above-mentioned automatic switching method for high and low beam lights of a vehicle, and comprises a body controller BCM, a front-view camera, an electric power steering system EPS and an electronic stability program ESP, wherein the front-view camera is connected with the body controller BCM, the electric power steering system EPS and the electronic stability program ESP respectively, and is configured to send a switching request for high and low beam lights to the body controller BCM according to vehicle data sent by the body controller BCM, the electric power steering system EPS and the electronic stability program ESP, and light intensity data and external environment images collected by the front-view camera itself.

[0023] The application has the technical effects that the automatic switching of high and low beam lights is optimized in multiple scenes and in all directions, which is closer to the use expectation of drivers, and meanwhile, the use of other road users is not affected. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0024] Figure 1 A flow chart of an automatic switching method for high and low beam lights of a vehicle is provided for the embodiment of the application.

[0025] Figure 2 A structure diagram of an automatic switching system for high and low beam lights of a vehicle is provided for the embodiment of the application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The specific embodiments of the application are described below with reference to the drawings, and the purpose is to help the skilled in the art to have a more complete, accurate and in-depth understanding of the inventive concept and technical solution of the application, and to facilitate the implementation. It should be noted that the terms "first", "second" and the like in the present application are only convenient for describing the technical solutions to distinguish different components, and do not limit the application. In order to make the technical solution of the application more clear, the application is explained and described by the following embodiments.

[0027] The embodiment provides an automatic switching method for high and low beam lights of a vehicle, and a flow chart thereof is as shown in FIG. 1. Figure 1The most basic, the method of the embodiment includes: obtaining the global light intensity lux of the current vehicle and the upper half area light intensity cal_lux of the vehicle. In this application, the global light intensity lux of the vehicle refers to the total light intensity of light received by the vehicle head part in all directions; the upper half area light intensity cal_lux of the vehicle refers to the total light intensity of light received by the upper half part of the vehicle head (generally, the joint between the vehicle front windshield and the vehicle head is the upper and lower boundary) in all directions. In this embodiment, the global light intensity lux of the vehicle and the upper half area light intensity cal_lux of the vehicle can be obtained by brightness analysis of the images collected by the front-view camera of the vehicle. Of course, in other preferred embodiments of the application, a light intensity sensor such as a photoresistor can be provided to obtain the global light intensity lux of the vehicle and the upper half area light intensity.

[0028] One of the high-beam and low-beam switching conditions of the embodiment includes: when in low-beam, if it is detected that lux is less than a first global light intensity threshold or cal_lux is less than a first upper half area light intensity threshold, it is determined whether there is always: lux is less than or equal to a second global light intensity threshold and cal_lux is less than or equal to a second upper half area light intensity threshold in a first continuous time thereafter, and if so, the vehicle is allowed to switch the low-beam to high-beam.

[0029] When in high-beam, if it is detected that lux is greater than the second global light intensity threshold and cal_lux is greater than the second upper half area light intensity threshold, it is determined whether there is always: lux is greater than or equal to the first global light intensity threshold and cal_lux is greater than or equal to the first upper half area light intensity threshold in a second continuous time thereafter, and if so, the vehicle switches the high-beam to low-beam.

[0030] Wherein, the first global light intensity threshold is less than the second global light intensity threshold, and the first upper half area light intensity threshold is less than the second upper half area light intensity threshold.

[0031] In this embodiment, the first global light intensity threshold is set to 8lx, and the second global light intensity threshold is set to 15lx; the first upper half area light intensity threshold is set to 1.5lx, and the second upper half area light intensity threshold is set to 3.5lx. In other preferred embodiments of the application, each threshold can be flexibly set according to actual conditions.

[0032] In this embodiment, the time length of switching from low-beam to high-beam and from high-beam to low-beam is made into two independent parameters, i.e. the first continuous time and the second continuous time. In this embodiment, the first continuous time is 2 seconds, and the second continuous time is 0.1 seconds, i.e. the high-beam is turned off quickly and turned on slowly. This can avoid the slow turning off of the high-beam when meeting another vehicle, which may cause dazzling to the oncoming vehicle.

[0033] In addition, before the switching of the high beam and low beam, the method of the embodiment further includes further judging according to the steering wheel angle, that is, if the steering wheel angle is greater than or equal to a preset steering angle threshold, the vehicle keeps the current light state unchanged; if the steering wheel angle is less than the preset steering angle threshold, the switching of the high beam and low beam is allowed. The steering angle threshold of the embodiment is preset to 50 degrees, that is, when the steering wheel angle is greater than or equal to 50 degrees, the current light state is always maintained unchanged regardless of whether the vehicle meets other high beam and low beam switching conditions, so as to avoid the flashing of the light at a sharp turn (especially on a mountain road), thereby affecting the field of view of the oncoming driver and causing a safety hazard.

[0034] In addition, the switching of the high beam and low beam of the method of the embodiment further includes:

[0035] The vehicle front-view camera is used to identify whether there is a moving vehicle in front of the current vehicle, and if there is, the vehicle is not allowed to switch from the low beam to the high beam, or the vehicle is immediately switched from the high beam to the low beam. The moving vehicle in front of the vehicle usually includes a vehicle traveling in the same direction as the current vehicle, a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction of the current vehicle, and a vehicle traveling in a direction perpendicular to the driving direction of the current vehicle. In actual driving, in order to avoid the influence of the opening of the high beam on other vehicles, such as glare, the opening of the high beam is inhibited as long as there is a moving vehicle in front of the vehicle.

[0036] The vehicle front-view camera is used to identify whether there is a point light source in front of the current vehicle, and the point light source includes a street lamp and the like; if there is a point light source, the vehicle is not allowed to switch from the low beam to the high beam, or the vehicle is immediately switched from the high beam to the low beam. Taking a street lamp as an example, the design purpose is to provide sufficient illumination so that the driver can clearly see the road, pedestrians and other vehicles when driving at night. In the case of a street lamp, the street lamp has already provided sufficient light, so it is not necessary to use the high beam again, and at the same time, the high beam of the vehicle itself can be avoided to interfere with other vehicles.

[0037] It is judged whether the soft switch of the intelligent high beam control system IHBC of the vehicle is opened, and if not, the vehicle is not allowed to switch from the low beam to the high beam, or the vehicle is immediately switched from the high beam to the low beam. The existing vehicles have been innovated to be intelligent, and on most vehicles, the intelligent high beam control system IHBC has become a standard configuration. In the case that the soft switch of the IHBC is not opened, the user can only manually switch the high beam and low beam, so in order to realize the automatic switching of the high beam and low beam, it is necessary to ensure the opening of the soft switch of the IHBC.

[0038] If the light control gear is not in the AUTO gear, the vehicle is not allowed to switch from low beam to high beam, or is immediately switched from high beam to low beam. As with the opening of the IHBC soft switch, only when the light control gear is in the AUTO gear, i.e. the automatic gear, can the high-low beam automatic switching function be opened.

[0039] If the wiper is in the high-speed gear, the vehicle is not allowed to switch from low beam to high beam, or is immediately switched from high beam to low beam. Specifically, with the frame rate of the front-view camera as a reference, 5 consecutive frames of wiper gear information can be obtained. If the wiper is in the high-speed gear in the 5 consecutive frames, it is considered that the wiper is in the high-speed gear. The wiper gear information can be obtained through the body controller BCM.

[0040] If the vehicle fog lamp is on, the vehicle is not allowed to switch from low beam to high beam, or is immediately switched from high beam to low beam. Similarly, with the frame rate of the front-view camera as a reference, 5 consecutive frames of fog lamp state information can be obtained. If the fog lamp is on in the 5 consecutive frames, it is considered that the vehicle fog lamp is on. The fog lamp state information can also be obtained through the body controller BCM. When the wiper is in the high-speed gear or the fog lamp is on, it means that the vehicle is in a heavy rain or heavy fog environment, etc. In such an environment, the opening of the high beam can avoid the driver's line of sight interference caused by the reflection of the high beam, thereby ensuring driving safety.

[0041] According to the current vehicle speed, the high-low beam switching judgment is performed, i.e. if the current vehicle speed is less than the preset high beam closing speed threshold, the vehicle is not allowed to switch from low beam to high beam, or is immediately switched from high beam to low beam; if the current vehicle speed is greater than the preset high beam opening speed threshold, the vehicle is allowed to switch from low beam to high beam. In this embodiment, the high beam opening speed threshold commonly used in the industry is lowered from 40 km / h to 25 km / h; the high beam closing speed threshold commonly used in the industry is lowered from 20 km / h to 15 km / h at the same time. A lower threshold means that the sensitivity or response capability of the high-low beam switching is improved, so that the high beam can be turned on or off in time, especially on a mountain road or other road requiring low-speed driving, the use of the high beam can also be realized, ensuring the safety of the driver.

[0042] In summary, under the condition that the steering wheel angle is less than 50, the vehicle in the high beam state meets any one of the following conditions: the vehicle speed is less than 15 km / h; there is a moving vehicle or a point light source in front of the vehicle; the IHBC soft switch is off; the light is not in the AUTO gear; the wiper is in the high-speed gear; the fog lamp is on; there is: lux≥8lx and cal_lux≥1.5lx in 0.1s after lux>15lx and cal_lux>3.5lx, the high beam is switched to the low beam.

[0043] In the case of steering wheel angle less than 50, the vehicle in the low beam state meets all the following conditions, the low beam can be switched to high beam: vehicle speed greater than 25km / h; there is no moving vehicle and point light source in front of the vehicle; IHBC soft switch is on; light is in AUTO mode; wiper is not in high speed; fog lamp is off; there is lux≤15lx and cal_lux≤3.5lx in the 2s after lux<8lx or cal_lux<1.5lx.

[0044] Meanwhile, the embodiment also constructs an automatic switching system of vehicle high and low beam according to the above-mentioned automatic switching method of vehicle high and low beam, as shown in the figure, the system includes a body controller BCM, a front-view camera (usually monocular), an electric power steering system EPS, and an electronic stability program ESP, wherein the front-view camera is connected with the body controller BCM, the electric power steering system EPS, and the electronic stability program ESP respectively. Figure 2

[0045] The electric power steering system EPS is used to obtain the steering wheel angle and send it to the front-view camera.

[0046] The electronic stability program ESP is used to obtain the current vehicle speed and send it to the front-view camera.

[0047] The body controller BCM is used to obtain the information of the vehicle's fog lamp state, wiper gear, IHBC soft switch state, light control gear, etc. and send it to the front-view camera, and at the same time, respond to the high and low beam switching request of the front-view camera.

[0048] The front-view camera includes a perception SOC chip and a control MCU chip, the perception SOC chip is used to obtain the vehicle data sent by the body controller BCM, the electric power steering system EPS, and the electronic stability program ESP, as well as the light intensity data and external environment image collected by itself, and make the switching judgment of high and low beam, the judgment result is reflected on the perception high beam flag bit and sent to the control MCU chip; the control MCU chip is used to send the high and low beam switching request of the value of the perception high beam flag bit to the body controller BCM.

[0049] ​The application firstly acquires the global light intensity lux of the current vehicle and the light intensity cal_lux of the upper half area of the vehicle, the wiper gear position, the fog lamp state, the light control gear position, the vehicle speed, the steering wheel turning angle and the like information; through the acquired information, it is judged whether the vehicle meets the preset switching conditions of various high beam and low beam when the vehicle is in the low beam or in the high beam, and when the conditions are met, the switching of the high beam and low beam is automatically realized. The application optimizes the automatic switching of the high beam and low beam in multiple scenes and all directions, is closer to the use expectation of the driver, and meanwhile avoids affecting other road users.

[0050] The application is described above in conjunction with the drawings. Obviously, the specific implementation of the application is not limited by the above manner. As long as various non-essential improvements are made by adopting the method concept and technical scheme of the application, or the above concept and technical scheme of the application are directly applied to other occasions without improvement, they are all within the protection scope of the application.

Claims

1. A method for automatically switching between high and low beam lights of a vehicle, characterized by: The method comprises: obtaining the global illuminance lux of the current vehicle and the illuminance cal_lux of the upper half of the vehicle; the global illuminance lux of the vehicle represents the total illuminance of light from all directions received by the front part of the vehicle; the illuminance cal_lux of the upper half of the vehicle represents the total illuminance of light from all directions received by the upper half of the front part of the vehicle; When the vehicle is in low beam mode, if it is detected that the global illumination lux is less than the first global illumination threshold or the illumination cal_lux of the upper half of the vehicle is less than the first upper half illumination threshold, then it is determined whether, during the first continuous time thereafter, the following conditions exist: the global illumination lux is less than or equal to the second global illumination threshold and the illumination cal_lux of the upper half of the vehicle is less than or equal to the second upper half illumination threshold. If so, the vehicle is allowed to switch from low beam to high beam; When the vehicle is in high beam mode, if it is detected that the global illumination lux is greater than the second global illumination threshold and the illumination cal_lux of the upper half of the vehicle is greater than the second upper half illumination threshold, then it is determined whether, during a second continuous time thereafter, the global illumination lux is always greater than or equal to the first global illumination threshold and the illumination cal_lux of the upper half of the vehicle is always greater than or equal to the first upper half illumination threshold. If so, the vehicle switches the high beam to the low beam. Among them, the first global illumination threshold is smaller than the second global illumination threshold, and the first upper half illumination threshold is smaller than the second upper half illumination threshold; by setting the first continuous time and the second continuous time, the effect of switching from high beam to low beam is achieved quickly and switching from low beam to high beam is slow.

2. The method for automatically switching between high and low beam lights of a vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that: Before switching between high and low beams, the method also includes making further judgments based on the steering wheel angle, namely: if the steering wheel angle is greater than or equal to a preset angle threshold, the vehicle maintains the current lighting state unchanged; if the steering wheel angle is less than the preset angle threshold, switching between high and low beams is allowed.

3. The method for automatically switching between high and low beam lights of a vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method further includes: identifying whether there is a moving vehicle in front of the current vehicle through a vehicle front-view camera, and if so, not allowing the vehicle to switch from low beam to high beam, or immediately switching the vehicle from high beam to low beam.

4. The method for automatically switching between high and low beam lights of a vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method also includes: identifying whether there is a point light source in front of the current vehicle through the vehicle's front-view camera, the point light source including a street light; if there is a point light source, not allowing the vehicle to switch from low beam to high beam, or immediately switching the vehicle from high beam to low beam.

5. The method for automatically switching between high and low beam lights of a vehicle according to any one of claim 1, characterized in that: The method further includes: determining whether a soft switch of an intelligent high beam control system (IHBC) of the vehicle is turned on; if not, not allowing the vehicle to switch from low beam to high beam, or immediately switching the vehicle from high beam to low beam.

6. The method for automatically switching between high and low beam lights of a vehicle according to any one of claim 1, characterized in that: The method further includes: determining whether the light control gear is not in the AUTO gear, and if not in the AUTO gear, not allowing the vehicle to switch from low beam to high beam, or immediately switching the vehicle from high beam to low beam.

7. The method for automatically switching between high and low beam lights of a vehicle according to any one of claim 1, characterized in that: The method further includes: determining whether the wiper is in a high gear, and if so, not allowing the vehicle to switch from low beam to high beam, or immediately switching the vehicle from high beam to low beam.

8. The method for automatically switching between high and low beam lights of a vehicle according to any one of claim 1, characterized in that: The method further includes: determining whether the vehicle fog lights are turned on, and if so, not allowing the vehicle to switch from low beam to high beam, or immediately switching the vehicle from high beam to low beam.

9. The method for automatically switching between high and low beam lights of a vehicle according to any one of claim 1, characterized in that: The method also includes: if the current vehicle speed is less than a preset high beam off speed threshold, the vehicle is not allowed to switch from low beam to high beam, or the vehicle is immediately switched from high beam to low beam; if the current vehicle speed is greater than a preset high beam on speed threshold, the vehicle is allowed to switch from low beam to high beam.

10. An automatic switching system for vehicle high and low beam lights, characterized by: The system is constructed according to a method for automatically switching between high and low beams of a vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 9, and includes a body controller BCM, a front-view camera, an electric power steering system EPS, and an electronic stability system ESP, wherein the front-view camera is respectively connected to the body controller BCM, the electric power steering system EPS, and the electronic stability system ESP, and is used to send a high and low beam switching request to the body controller BCM based on vehicle data sent by the body controller BCM, the electric power steering system EPS, and the electronic stability system ESP, as well as light intensity data and external environment images collected by itself.

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