Database creation method, leveling control method, database and control system

Abstract

A database creation method for use in leveling control of a vehicle lamp, having map information (41) for vehicle travel and a plurality of reference positions related to the map information, in which a representative value is set on the basis of a plurality of pieces of gradient information (42) in a region including at least one reference position, the representative value is stored in association with the reference position.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a database creation method, a leveling control method, a database and a control system. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, vehicle lamps (headlights) having an automatic leveling function that automatically adjusts the vertical illumination range according to the front-rear tilt of the vehicle have become popular. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that the tilt angle of the vehicle is calculated by a gravity sensor and the optical axis of the headlight is controlled based on the tilt angle.

[0003] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-85459 Summary of the invention

[0004] The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 calculates the inclination angle of the current traveling position of the vehicle and controls the leveling angle according to the inclination angle.

[0005] However, since there is no structure for storing gradient information consisting of the calculated vehicle inclination angle, there is a problem that, for example, when the vehicle travels on the same road multiple times, the gradient information calculated during the previous travel cannot be effectively used.

[0006] In addition, there is a problem that if all past gradient information is stored and the target leveling angle is calculated by referring to all past gradient information when the vehicle is traveling on the same road, the data size of the gradient information to be stored and the calculation time of the target leveling angle will increase according to the travel distance of the vehicle. In addition, the past gradient information may include gradient information calculated and obtained by traveling on a path different from the current travel path. If the travel path is different, the inclination angle of the vehicle body will also be different, so the accuracy of the above-mentioned past gradient information may be low. Therefore, there is a problem that if the inclination angle of the gradient information calculated and obtained by traveling on a different path is directly used to calculate the target leveling angle of the headlight, the accuracy of the leveling angle to be controlled may be reduced.

[0007] In addition, there is a problem that the accuracy of the leveling angle to be controlled may be reduced because there is fluctuation in sensor information obtained by a gravity sensor or the like.

[0008] A first object of the present invention is to create a leveling control database that can effectively use past gradient information and reduce the size of data to be stored to shorten the calculation time of a target leveling angle.

[0009] A second object of the present invention is to create a leveling control database capable of effectively using past gradient information and realizing high-precision leveling control.

[0010] A third object of the present invention is to provide a leveling control system capable of effectively using past gradient information and realizing high-precision leveling control.

[0011] A database creation method according to one embodiment of the present invention for achieving the first object is provided.

[0012] The device is used for leveling control of vehicle lamps, and has map information for vehicle driving and a plurality of reference positions related to the map information.

[0013] A representative value is set based on a plurality of gradient information within a region including at least one of the reference positions, and the representative value is stored in association with the reference position.

[0014] A database creation method according to one embodiment of the present invention for achieving the second object is provided.

[0015] The device is used for leveling control of vehicle lamps, and has map information for vehicle driving and a plurality of reference positions related to the map information.

[0016] In the database creation method,

[0017] A plurality of gradient information items within a region including at least one of the reference positions are weighted and stored.

[0018] A vehicle lighting control system according to one embodiment of the present invention for achieving the third object is provided.

[0019] Using a database including traveling direction information and gradient information associated with the traveling direction information, a target leveling angle of the vehicle lamp is set;

[0020] The control system has:

[0021] a traveling direction estimating unit for estimating a predicted traveling direction of the vehicle based at least on the position information of the vehicle;

[0022] a determination unit that determines whether the plurality of traveling directions are consistent; and

[0023] a target leveling angle calculation unit that calculates a target leveling angle of the vehicle lamp corresponding to a road surface angle,

[0024] When the determination unit determines that the predicted traveling direction estimated by the traveling direction estimation unit is consistent with the traveling direction information pre-recorded in the database, the target leveling angle calculation unit calculates and sets a target leveling angle based on the gradient information associated with the traveling direction information.

[0025] Effects of the Invention

[0026] According to the present invention, it is possible to create a database for leveling control that can effectively use past gradient information and reduce the size of data to be stored, thereby shortening the calculation time of a target leveling angle.

[0027] Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is possible to create a leveling control database that can effectively use past gradient information and realize high-precision leveling control by giving weights to gradient information.

[0028] Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a leveling control system that can effectively use past gradient information and realize high-precision leveling control. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Figure 1 It is a block diagram showing the configuration of a leveling control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] Figure 2 This is a conceptual diagram showing the target leveling angle and actual leveling angle when the vehicle is driving on the road.

[0031] Figure 3 This is a diagram showing the format of gradient information according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0032] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram for explaining the tilt angle of the vehicle.

[0033] Figure 5 This is a conceptual diagram for explaining map information according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] Figure 6 This is a flowchart showing the database creation process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0035] Figure 7 This is a diagram for explaining a method for determining the reliability of gradient information according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0036] Figure 8 1 is a flowchart showing the leveling control process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] Fig. 9It is a block diagram showing the configuration of a leveling control system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[0038] Fig.10 This is a diagram showing the format of gradient information according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0039] Fig.11 This is a conceptual diagram for explaining map information according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0040] Fig.12 This is a diagram showing the format of a representative value of gradient information according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0041] Fig.13 This is a flowchart showing the database creation process according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0042] Fig.14 This is a diagram for explaining a method of calculating a weighting coefficient of gradient information according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0043] Fig.15 1 is a flowchart showing a leveling control process according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0044] Fig.16 It is a block diagram showing the configuration of a leveling control system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[0045] Fig.17 This is a conceptual diagram showing the target leveling angle and actual leveling angle when the vehicle is driving on the road.

[0046] Fig.18 This is a conceptual diagram for explaining the predicted direction of travel.

[0047] Fig.19 This is a diagram showing the format of gradient information involved in the reference example.

[0048] Fig. 20 This is a diagram showing the format of gradient information according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

[0049] Fig.21 This is a conceptual diagram for explaining a method of referring to gradient information according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

[0050] Fig. 22 : is a flowchart showing a leveling control process according to the third embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0051] The present invention relates to a database creation method, a leveling control method and a database. First, the structure of the leveling angle control system involved in the first embodiment of the present invention is described. Next, the leveling angle control method and the database creation method are described. Next, the calculation method of the tilt angle, the storage method of the gradient information, the determination method of the reliability of the gradient information and the calculation method of the weighting coefficient of the gradient information are described. Next, the leveling angle control process based on the gradient information is described.

[0052] Next, the structure of the leveling angle control system involved in the second embodiment of the present invention is described. Next, the method for creating a database is described. Next, the method for calculating the tilt angle, the method for storing gradient information, the method for determining the reliability of gradient information, and the method for calculating the weighting coefficient of gradient information are described. Next, the leveling angle control process based on gradient information is described.

[0053] In addition, the present invention relates to a control system. First, the format of gradient information is described. Next, a method for calculating a tilt angle and a method for referring to gradient information are described. Next, a leveling angle control process based on gradient information is described.

[0054] <Structure of the leveling angle control system 100>

[0055] Figure 1 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of a leveling angle control system 100 (hereinafter, also simply referred to as "system 100") according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The system 100 is a system that controls a leveling angle at a predetermined first point ahead of a current driving location of the vehicle 10 based on a road surface angle at a point ahead of the current driving location of the vehicle 10.

[0056] The system 100 is a system for controlling the leveling angle of a vehicle headlamp 50. The system 100 is composed of, for example, a vehicle 10 and a headlamp 50.

[0057] The vehicle 10 includes, for example, a sensor unit 20, a vehicle control unit 30, and a storage unit (database).

[0058] 40. In addition, the sensor unit 20 may be provided in the headlight 50. In addition, the storage unit 40 may be provided in the headlight 50, or may be configured to be provided outside the vehicle 10 (for example, in a data center that can be communicatively connected to the vehicle 10).

[0059] The sensor unit 20 includes, for example, a camera 21, a LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) 22, a six-axis sensor 23, and a position sensor 24. The camera 21 is provided to capture at least the front of the vehicle 10. The LiDAR 22 is provided to acquire at least the image of the front of the vehicle 10.

[0060] The 6-axis sensor 23 is, for example, a 6-axis acceleration sensor that detects acceleration and angular velocity in each direction of the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis that are orthogonal to each other. The 6-axis sensor 23 is mounted on the vehicle 10 such that, for example, the x-axis is along the front-rear direction of the vehicle 10, the y-axis is along the left-right direction of the vehicle 10, and the z-axis is along the up-down direction of the vehicle 10.

[0061] The position sensor 24 is a sensor that detects position information of the vehicle 10 , and is, for example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor or a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) sensor.

[0062] The data obtained by the camera 21 , the LiDAR 22 , the six-axis sensor 23 , and the position sensor 24 are output to the vehicle control unit 30 .

[0063] The vehicle control unit 30 is composed of a gradient calculation unit 31 , a road surface angle calculation unit 32 , a representative value determination unit 33 , and a target leveling angle calculation unit 34 .

[0064] The vehicle control unit 30 controls various actions such as the travel of the vehicle 10. The vehicle control unit 30 includes, for example, a processor such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or a general-purpose CPU (Central Processing Unit). In addition, although not shown in the figure, the vehicle 10 includes, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory) storing various vehicle control programs and a RAM (Random Access Memory) temporarily storing various vehicle control data. The processor of the vehicle control unit 30 expands the data specified by the various vehicle control programs stored in the ROM on the RAM, and can control various actions of the vehicle 10 by cooperating with the RAM.

[0065] The headlamp 50 is mounted on the vehicle 10 and radiates light toward the front of the vehicle 10. The headlamp 50 includes, for example, a light source unit that emits light, a leveling actuator 70, and a lamp control unit 60 that controls the light source unit and the leveling actuator 70.

[0066] The lamp control unit 60 is composed of a leveling angle control unit 61. The lamp control unit 60 includes a processor such as an ASIC, an FPGA, or a general-purpose CPU. Although not shown in the figure, the lamp control unit 60 includes, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory) storing various control programs and a RAM (Random Access Memory) temporarily storing various control data. The processor of the lamp control unit 60 expands the data specified by the various control programs stored in the ROM on the RAM, and can perform various operations of the headlamp 50 by cooperating with the RAM.

[0067] The leveling angle control unit 61 controls the leveling angle of the headlamp 50 via the leveling actuator 70 .

[0068] In addition, it may take time from the start of the operation of the leveling actuator 70 included in the headlamp 50 until the leveling angle reaches the target value (target leveling angle θ).

[0069] For example, sometimes it takes about 0.1 to 0.5 seconds from the time when the target leveling angle θ is calculated until the leveling angle actually reaches the target leveling angle θ. Alternatively, sometimes the light source of the headlight 50 is composed of a plurality of LEDs, and the leveling angle is approximately controlled by controlling the lighting / extinguishing of each LED. In this case, sometimes it takes about 0.01 to 0.1 seconds from the time when the target leveling angle θ is calculated until the leveling angle actually reaches the target leveling angle θ. As described above, a delay time occurs from the start of the operation of the leveling actuator 70 until the leveling angle reaches the target leveling angle θ.

[0070] Therefore, if the leveling angle is to be set to a predetermined value based on the gradient of the road surface at the current driving location of the vehicle 10, it is too late even if the operation of the leveling actuator 70 is started at the current driving location. Therefore, in the system 100 of the present invention, the leveling angle is controlled in the following manner, that is, when the vehicle reaches the current driving location, control for setting the target leveling angle θ is started based on the gradient of the road surface at a certain location ahead of the current driving location (hereinafter referred to as the first location), so that the vehicle 10 reaches the first location and reaches an appropriate leveling angle.

[0071] In order to realize the above-described control, the leveling angle control unit 61 operates based on various inputs from the vehicle control unit 30 .

[0072] <Leveling Angle Control Method>

[0073] use Figure 2 , a method for controlling the leveling angle of the vehicle 10 is described.

[0074] Figure 2 θ is a conceptual diagram showing a target leveling angle θ and an actual leveling angle when the vehicle 10 is traveling on a road surface.

[0075] like Figure 2 As shown in (a), when the vehicle 10 is traveling on a flat road, the leveling angle of the headlight 50 is set, for example, so that the center point of the light distribution pattern (point O where the H line and the V line intersect) is located 70 meters in front of the vehicle 10. For example, the leveling angle (at Figure 2 ) relative to the horizontal direction (indicated by line H2 in Figure 2 In the following description, the angle of 0.5 degrees downwardly tilted relative to the horizontal direction during driving on this flat road is referred to as the reference leveling angle of the headlamp 50, and the leveling angle of the headlamp 50 is represented by the angle offset from the reference leveling angle.

[0076] Note that the reference leveling angle may have different values ​​depending on the mounting height of the headlamp 50 on the vehicle 10, regulations, etc. 0.5 degrees is merely a number used for specific explanation.

[0077] Basically, the leveling angle of the headlight 50 is set to an angle corresponding to the angle of the road surface on which the vehicle 10 is traveling. Figure 2 When the angle of the road surface is lowered as in (b) (the road surface angle is negative), the illumination reference point will be located at a position farther than 70 m in front of the vehicle 10 while maintaining the reference leveling angle unchanged. Therefore, as the leveling angle is indicated by line H3, the illumination reference point is located 70 m in front of the vehicle 10 by tilting downward compared to the reference leveling angle.

[0078] The target leveling angle calculation unit 34 calculates a target leveling angle θ of the headlamp 50 based on a representative value in a region corresponding to the current travel location of the vehicle 10 or the traveling direction of the vehicle.

[0079] For example, the target leveling angle calculation unit 34 determines the current driving location of the vehicle 10 based on the sensor information detected by the position sensor 24. In addition, the target leveling angle calculation unit 34 determines the traveling direction of the vehicle 10 based on the history of the driving location. Furthermore, the target leveling angle calculation unit 34 determines a predetermined location (first location) in front of the vehicle 10 based on the current driving location and the traveling direction.

[0080] Then, the target leveling angle calculation unit 34 reads out the gradient information 42 of the first point stored in the storage unit 40 . Figure 3 is the format of the gradient information 42 stored in the storage unit 40. Figure 3 As shown, the position information and the tilt angle φ at the position are stored in the storage unit 40. Therefore, the target leveling angle calculation unit 34 determines the tilt angle φ at the position that coincides with the first point or the position closest to the first point.

[0081] The target leveling angle calculation unit 34 calculates the target leveling angle θ of the first location based on the determined inclination angle φ of the first location. The vehicle control unit 30 outputs the calculated target leveling angle θ to the lamp control unit 60, and the leveling angle control unit 61 of the lamp control unit 60 controls the leveling angle so as to achieve the input target leveling angle θ.

[0082] <How to create a database>

[0083] In the system 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, each data of the gradient information 42 is obtained by the six-axis sensor 23 and the position sensor 24 of the sensor unit 20, and is used when calculating the target leveling angle θ as described above. The vehicle control unit 30 obtains the sensor information at a predetermined time interval such as 1 millisecond when the vehicle 10 is traveling, such as Figure 3 As shown, it is stored in the storage unit 40 in association with the detection time. Figure 3 As shown, a set of data including detection time, location information (north latitude and east longitude), altitude, roll angle, pitch angle, yaw angle, road surface angle, and travel direction is accompanied by a gradient information ID that can identify each data set. The gradient information ID and a set of data sets are collectively referred to as gradient information 42.

[0084] The gradient calculation unit 31 calculates the roll angle based on the output of the angular acceleration around the x-axis of the six-axis sensor 23 and stores it in the storage unit 40. The gradient calculation unit 31 also calculates the travel direction based on the difference between the current position information and the position information at the immediately previous detection time.

[0085] <Calculation method of tilt angle>

[0086] use Figure 4 , a method for calculating the inclination angle φ of the current traveling location of the vehicle 10 will be described.

[0087] Figure 4 Schematic diagram for explaining the tilt angle φ of the vehicle. The tilt angle φ is the angle obtained by summing the tilt angle of the road surface relative to the horizontal plane, that is, the road surface angle θr, and the tilt angle of the vehicle 10 relative to the road surface, that is, the vehicle angle θv. The road surface angle θr is an angle indicating the gradient of the road surface at the location. The vehicle angle θv is, for example, a fixed angle determined for each vehicle model. The vehicle angle θv is recorded in the storage unit 40, etc.

[0088] The gradient calculation unit 31 calculates the tilt angle φ by the following equation (1) based on the detection value vector Gx of the x-axis direction of the gravity acceleration vector G detected by the six-axis sensor 23 and the detection value vector Gz of the z-axis direction of the gravity acceleration vector G. In addition, the calculation of the tilt angle φ is not limited to the above example, and other well-known methods can also be used.

[0089] [Formula 1]

[0090]

[0091] In addition, an example in which the tilt angle φ is calculated based on the output of the six-axis sensor 23 is described, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The gradient calculation unit may also calculate the tilt angle φ of a specific location in front of the vehicle 10 based on the three-dimensional image data output by the camera 21 or the LiDAR 22. There is no particular limitation when calculating the tilt angle φ, and a conventionally known image analysis method can be used.

[0092] However, if the sensor information is obtained as described above and the gradient information 42 is calculated for all locations, the data size of the gradient information 42 will increase. Therefore, in addition to the need for a large-capacity storage unit 40, the calculation time for calculating the target leveling angle θ will also increase. Therefore, the system 100 involved in the first embodiment of the present invention does not store the gradient information 42 for all locations on the map, but sets a reference position on the map and stores the representative value in association with the reference position. The representative value set at the reference position is a value set based on a plurality of gradient information 42 in an area Ar containing at least one reference position.

[0093] For reference positions and representative values, use Figure 5 Provide explanation. Figure 5 4 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the map information 41 involved in the first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 As shown, the map information 41 divides the map for vehicle driving into a plurality of regions Ar by a grid Gr. Each region Ar is associated with gradient information 42, which includes the road surface angle θr of the vehicle 10 calculated by the gradient calculation unit 31 during past driving. In addition, the representative value determined by the representative value determination unit 33 based on the plurality of gradient information 42 is associated with the reference position.

[0094] In addition, the reference position may be, for example, the center point of each area Ar. In addition, the number of reference positions in each area Ar is not limited to one, and may be plural.

[0095] In addition, the plurality of regions Ar divided by the grid Gr may be variable regions corresponding to the number of gradient information 42. By setting the plurality of regions Ar as variable regions, the range of the regions can be changed according to the road environment of the driving location of the vehicle 10, thereby improving the accuracy of the gradient information 42 to be referenced.

[0096] For example, when the number of gradient information 42 included in a certain area Ar is less than or equal to a predetermined value, the area Ar may be enlarged to increase the number of gradient information 42 to be referred to.

[0097] In addition, the map for vehicle driving may be divided into a plurality of circular areas instead of the grids Gr.

[0098] In addition, Figure 3 In the gradient information 42 shown, the position information and the direction of travel of the gradient information ID which is the latest at the detection time can be obtained, such as Figure 5 As shown, the current position and current direction of travel of the vehicle 10 are determined.

[0099] The representative value determination unit 33 determines the representative value of the reference position and the gradient information 42 in each area divided by the map information 41 based on the map information 41 stored in the storage unit 40 and the gradient information 42 associated with the map information 41. The representative value determination unit 33 can, for example, determine the average value or the median value of the plurality of gradient information 42 in each area as the representative value. In addition, the representative value in each area is not limited to one, and a plurality of representative values ​​can also be set. The vehicle control unit 30 stores the specific value determined by the representative value determination unit 33 in the storage unit 40 in association with the map information 41.

[0100] <Method for storing gradient information>

[0101] use Figure 6 , a storage method (database creation process) of the gradient information 42 obtained by the gradient calculation unit 31 will be described.

[0102] Figure 6 is a flowchart showing the database creation process. Figure 6 As shown, the vehicle control unit 30 successively calculates the gradient information 42 based on the sensor information detected from the sensor unit 20 (S100). Next, the vehicle control unit 30 specifies to which area Ar the position information of the calculated gradient information 42 belongs (S101).

[0103] Next, when the vehicle control unit 30 stores the calculated gradient information 42 in the storage unit 40, it determines whether the reliability of the gradient information 42 is high (S102). When it is determined that the reliability of the gradient information 42 is high (YES in S102), the vehicle control unit 30 stores the gradient information 42 in the storage unit 40 (S103), and the representative value determination unit 33 calculates (updates) the representative value of the area Ar including the current driving location, and stores the representative value in the storage unit 40 (S104). When it is determined that the reliability of the calculated gradient information 42 is low (NO in S102), the vehicle control unit 30 does not store the gradient information 42 in the storage unit 40 but discards it (S105).

[0104] Then, the database creation process ends.

[0105] Furthermore, in the present invention, the reliability of the entire gradient information 42 is determined, but the reliability of each data of the gradient information 42 may be determined to determine whether to store in the storage unit 40 or discard.

[0106] <Method for determining the reliability of gradient information>

[0107] As described in step S101 , when storing the gradient information 42 in the storage unit 40 , the vehicle control unit 30 may determine whether the reliability of the gradient information 42 is high, and store the gradient information 42 in the storage unit 40 only when the reliability is high.

[0108] Figure 7 This is a diagram for explaining a method of determining the reliability of the gradient information 42. The vertical axis represents the frequency, and the horizontal axis represents the height of the gradient information 42 in the past or the magnitude of the gradient.

[0109] For example, Figure 7 As shown, the vehicle control unit 30 can determine the reliability by trying to determine whether the gradient information 42 newly stored in the storage unit 40 deviates from the distribution of the past gradient information 42 (height or gradient magnitude) stored in the storage unit 40 .

[0110] Specifically, the vehicle control unit 30 calculates the deviation of the gradient information 42 to be newly stored in the storage unit 40 based on the past gradient information 42. When the deviation is in the area X where the deviation is less than or equal to the predetermined threshold, it can be determined that the reliability of the gradient information 42 is high, and the vehicle control unit 30 stores the gradient information 42 in the storage unit 40. In addition, when the deviation is in the area Y where the deviation exceeds the predetermined threshold, it can be determined that the reliability of the gradient information 42 is low, and the vehicle control unit 30 does not store the gradient information 42 in the storage unit 40.

[0111] This makes it possible to exclude sensor information with low reliability detected by erroneous detection of the six-axis sensor 23 or the position sensor 24 and store the gradient information 42 with high accuracy.

[0112] <Leveling Angle Control Process>

[0113] If the storage unit 40 storing the representative value at the reference position is used, the calculation time of the target leveling angle θ can be shortened. Figure 8 The leveling angle control processing flow is described.

[0114] Figure 8 FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the leveling angle control process. Figure 8 As shown, the vehicle control unit 30 specifies the position information of the first point and the traveling direction of the current point based on the sensor information detected from the sensor unit 20 and the like ( S200 ).

[0115] Next, the target leveling angle calculation unit 34 determines whether the representative value (tilt angle φ) of the gradient information 42 of the area Ar in the traveling direction is stored in the storage unit 40 (S201). If the representative value is stored in the storage unit 40 (YES in S201), the target leveling angle calculation unit 34 calculates the target leveling angle θ based on the representative value in the area corresponding to the traveling direction stored in the storage unit 40 (S202).

[0116] If the representative value is not stored in the storage unit 40 (NO in S201 ), the target leveling angle calculation unit 34 may calculate the target leveling angle θ based on the inclination angle φ calculated by the gradient calculation unit 31 ( S203 ).

[0117] Next, the target leveling angle calculation unit 34 outputs the calculated target leveling angle θ to the leveling angle control unit 61. The leveling angle control unit 61 controls the leveling angle to approach the target leveling angle θ calculated by the target leveling angle calculation unit 34, and controls the operation of the leveling actuator 70 (S204).

[0118] Then, the leveling angle control process ends.

[0119] According to the above configuration, it is possible to create a database for leveling control that effectively uses past gradient information and reduces the size of data to be stored, thereby shortening the calculation time of the target leveling angle θ.

[0120] In addition, the target leveling angle θ of the headlamp 50 at the specified first location is calculated based on the road surface angle θr at the specified second location reached by the vehicle 10 after traveling for a specified number of seconds (for example, 1 second) or a specified distance (for example, 10 meters) from the first location. The road surface angle θr at the specified second location uses a representative value of the gradient information 42 stored in the storage unit 40. In addition, when the representative value of the gradient information 42 at the specified second location is not stored in the storage unit 40, the road surface angle θr at the specified second location calculated by the road surface angle calculation unit 32 may be used. In addition, the specified first location and the specified second location are located in the traveling direction of the vehicle 10.

[0121] Furthermore, the configuration in which the representative value is set by successively determining to which region Ar the position information of the gradient information 42 calculated by the gradient calculation unit 31 belongs has been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0122] The system 100 may be configured to include an external data server connected to the vehicle control unit 30 via wireless communication, store all the successively calculated gradient information 42 in the external data server, and calculate the representative value of the reference position based on the successively acquired gradient information 42. In this case, the external data server transmits the calculated representative value of the reference position to the storage unit 40 mounted on the vehicle 10 via wireless communication. If configured as described above, the calculation of the representative value of the reference position with a large calculation load can be processed outside the vehicle, and the database mounted on the vehicle 10 can be kept compact.

[0123] In addition, Figure 3 The format of the gradient information 42 shown may include a road surface angle θr instead of the tilt angle φ. In this case, the target leveling angle calculation unit 34 calculates the tilt angle φ by summing the road surface angle θr and the vehicle angle θv, and calculates the target leveling angle based on the calculated tilt angle φ.

[0124] <Structure of the leveling angle control system 1100>

[0125] Fig. 9 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of a leveling angle control system 1100 (hereinafter also referred to as "system 1100") according to a second embodiment of the present invention. System 1100 is a system that controls a leveling angle at a predetermined first point ahead of the current driving location of vehicle 1010 based on a road surface angle at a point ahead of the current driving location of vehicle 1010.

[0126] The system 1100 is a system for controlling the leveling angle of a vehicle headlamp 1050. The system 1100 is composed of, for example, a vehicle 1010 and a headlamp 1050.

[0127] The vehicle 1010 is composed of, for example, a sensor unit 1020, a vehicle control unit 1030, and a storage unit (database) 1040. In addition, the sensor unit 1020 may be provided in the headlight 1050. In addition, the storage unit 1040 may be provided in the headlight 1050, or may be configured to be provided outside the vehicle 1010 (for example, in a data center that can be communicatively connected to the vehicle 1010).

[0128] The sensor unit 1020 is composed of, for example, a camera 1021, a LiDAR 1022, a six-axis sensor 1023, and a position sensor 1024. The camera 1021 is provided to be able to capture at least the front of the vehicle 1010. The LiDAR 1022 is provided to be able to acquire an image of at least the front of the vehicle 1010.

[0129] The 6-axis sensor 1023 is, for example, a 6-axis acceleration sensor that detects acceleration and angular velocity in each direction of the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis that are orthogonal to each other. The 6-axis sensor 1023 is installed on the vehicle 1010 in a manner such that the x-axis is along the axis in the front-rear direction of the vehicle 1010, the y-axis is along the axis in the left-right direction of the vehicle 1010, and the z-axis is along the axis in the up-down direction of the vehicle 1010.

[0130] The position sensor 1024 is a sensor that detects position information of the vehicle 1010 , and is, for example, a GPS sensor or a GNSS sensor.

[0131] The data obtained by the camera 1021 , the LiDAR 1022 , the six-axis sensor 1023 , and the position sensor 1024 are output to the vehicle control unit 1030 .

[0132] The vehicle control unit 1030 is composed of a gradient calculation unit 1031 , a road surface angle calculation unit 1032 , a representative value determination unit 1033 , and a target leveling angle calculation unit 1034 .

[0133] The vehicle control unit 1030 controls various operations such as the travel of the vehicle 1010. The vehicle control unit 1030 includes, for example, a processor such as an ASIC, an FPGA, or a general-purpose CPU. In addition, although not shown in the figure, the vehicle 1010 includes, for example, a ROM storing various vehicle control programs and a RAM temporarily storing various vehicle control data. The processor of the vehicle control unit 1030 expands the data specified by the various vehicle control programs stored in the ROM on the RAM, and can control various operations of the vehicle 1010 by cooperating with the RAM.

[0134] The headlamp 1050 is mounted on the vehicle 1010 and radiates light toward the front of the vehicle 1010. The headlamp 1050 includes, for example, a light source unit that emits light, a leveling actuator 1070, and a lamp control unit 1060 that controls the light source unit and the leveling actuator 1070.

[0135] The lamp control unit 1060 is composed of a leveling angle control unit 1061. The lamp control unit 1060 includes a processor such as an ASIC, an FPGA, or a general-purpose CPU. In addition, although not shown in the figure, the lamp control unit 1060 includes, for example, a ROM storing various control programs and a RAM temporarily storing various control data. The processor of the lamp control unit 1060 expands the data specified by the various control programs stored in the ROM on the RAM, and can control various operations of the headlamp 1050 by cooperating with the RAM.

[0136] The leveling angle control unit 1061 controls the leveling angle of the headlight 1050 via the leveling actuator 1070 .

[0137] In addition, it may take time from the start of the operation of the leveling actuator 1070 included in the headlamp 1050 until the leveling angle reaches the target value (target leveling angle θ).

[0138] For example, sometimes it takes about 0.1 to 0.5 seconds from the time the target leveling angle θ is calculated until the leveling angle actually reaches the target leveling angle θ. Alternatively, sometimes the light source of the headlight 1050 is composed of a plurality of LEDs, and the leveling angle is approximately controlled by controlling the lighting / extinguishing of each LED. In this case, sometimes it takes about 0.01 to 0.1 seconds from the time the target leveling angle θ is calculated until the leveling angle actually reaches the target leveling angle θ. As described above, a delay time occurs from the start of the operation of the leveling actuator 1070 until the leveling angle reaches the target leveling angle θ.

[0139] Therefore, if the leveling angle is set to a predetermined value based on the gradient of the road surface at the current driving location of the vehicle 1010, it is too late even if the operation of the leveling actuator 1070 is started at the current driving location. Therefore, in the system 1100 of the present invention, the leveling angle is controlled in the following manner, that is, when the vehicle reaches the current driving location, control for setting the target leveling angle θ is started based on the gradient of the road surface at a certain location ahead of the current driving location (hereinafter referred to as the first location), so that the leveling angle becomes appropriate when the vehicle 1010 reaches the first location.

[0140] In order to realize the above-described control, the leveling angle control unit 1061 operates based on various inputs from the vehicle control unit 1030 .

[0141] <How to create a database>

[0142] In the system 1100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention, each data of the gradient information 1042 is obtained by the six-axis sensor 1023 and the position sensor 1024 of the sensor unit 1020, and is used when calculating the target leveling angle θ as described above. The vehicle control unit 1030 obtains sensor information at a predetermined time interval such as 1 millisecond when the vehicle 1010 is traveling, such as Fig.10 As shown, it is stored in the storage unit 1040 in association with the detection time. In the second embodiment of the present invention, Fig.10 As shown, a set of data including detection time, location information (north latitude and east longitude), altitude, roll angle, pitch angle, yaw angle, road surface angle, travel direction, and weighting coefficient W is accompanied by a gradient information ID that can identify each data set. The gradient information ID and the set of data sets are collectively referred to as gradient information 1042.

[0143] The gradient calculation unit 1031 calculates the roll angle based on the output of the angular acceleration around the x-axis of the six-axis sensor 1023 and stores it in the storage unit 1040. The gradient calculation unit 1031 also calculates the travel direction based on the difference between the current position information and the position information at the immediately previous detection time.

[0144] If sensor information is acquired as described in the above-mentioned method of calculating the tilt angle and the gradient information 1042 is directly calculated using the acquired sensor information, the acquired sensor information has fluctuations, so the accuracy of the calculated gradient information 1042 may be reduced. As a result, the accuracy of the leveling angle to be controlled is reduced.

[0145] Therefore, the system 1100 involved in the second embodiment of the present invention calculates the normal distribution of multiple gradient information 1042 calculated in the past within the area Ar including the current driving location, calculates the probability density P in the normal distribution of the newly calculated gradient information 1042, and stores the calculated probability density P as the weighting coefficient W.

[0146] In addition, the system 1100 involved in the second embodiment of the present invention does not store the gradient information 1042 for all positions on the map, but sets a reference position on the map and stores the representative value 1043 in association with the reference position. The representative value 1043 set at the reference position is a value set based on a plurality of gradient information 1042 in an area Ar including at least one reference position.

[0147] For the reference position and representative value 1043, use Fig.11, 12 Provide explanation. Fig.11 1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the map information 1041 involved in the second embodiment of the present invention. Fig.11 As shown, the map information 1041 divides the map for vehicle driving into a plurality of regions Ar by a grid Gr. Each region Ar is associated with gradient information 1042, which includes the road surface angle θr of the vehicle 1010 calculated by the gradient calculation unit 1031 during past driving. In addition, the representative value determined by the representative value determination unit 1033 based on the plurality of gradient information 1042 is associated with the reference position.

[0148] Fig.12 is the format of the representative value 1043 of the gradient information 1042 stored in the storage unit 1040. Fig.12 As shown, based on Fig.11 The plurality of gradient information 1042 shown sets a representative value 1043 of a certain area Ar, and an area ID indicating the area Ar is attached, and the representative value 1043 of the plurality of gradient information 1042 of each area Ar is created and stored in the storage unit 1040 as one database. Once the representative value 1043 of the area Ar is created, the gradient information 1042 of the area Ar can be transferred from the storage unit 1040 to an external data server connected to the vehicle control unit 1030 via wireless communication, and only the representative value 1043 is stored in the storage unit 1040. Thus, the database mounted on the vehicle 1010 can be kept compact, and the calculation time for calculating the target leveling angle θ can be shortened.

[0149] In addition, when setting the representative value 1043 of a certain area Ar, the values ​​of each parameter of the plurality of gradient information 1042 multiplied by the weighting coefficient W are summed up, and the values ​​are divided by the sum of the weighting coefficients W to calculate the parameters of the gradient information 1042 of the representative value 1043.

[0150] In addition, the reference position may be, for example, the center point of each area Ar. In addition, the number of reference positions in each area Ar is not limited to one, and may be plural.

[0151] In addition, the plurality of regions Ar divided by the grid Gr may be variable regions corresponding to the number of gradient information 1042. By setting the plurality of regions Ar as variable regions, the range of the regions can be changed according to the road environment of the driving location of the vehicle 1010, thereby improving the accuracy of the gradient information 1042 to be referenced.

[0152] For example, when the amount of gradient information 1042 included in a certain area Ar is less than or equal to a specified value, the area Ar may be enlarged to increase the amount of gradient information 1042 to be referenced. In addition, for example, when the variance of the gradient information 1042 included in a certain area Ar is greater than or equal to a specified value, the area Ar may be enlarged to increase the amount of gradient information 1042 to be referenced and reduce the variance of the gradient information 1042.

[0153] In addition, the map for vehicle driving may be divided into a plurality of circular areas instead of the grids Gr.

[0154] In addition, Fig.11 In the gradient information 1042 shown, the position information and the direction of travel of the gradient information ID that is the latest at the detection time can be obtained, such as Fig.12 As shown, the current position and current direction of travel of vehicle 1010 are determined.

[0155] The representative value determination unit 1033 determines the representative value 1043 of the reference position and the gradient information 1042 in each area divided by the map information 1041 based on the map information 1041 stored in the storage unit 1040 and the gradient information 1042 associated with the map information 1041. The representative value determination unit 1033 may determine the representative value 1043 as the average value or the median value of the plurality of gradient information 1042 in each area, for example. In addition, the representative value 1043 is not limited to one in each area, and a plurality of representative values ​​may be set. The vehicle control unit 1030 stores the specific value determined by the representative value determination unit 1033 in the storage unit 1040 in association with the map information 1041.

[0156] <Method for storing gradient information>

[0157] use Fig.13 , a storage method (database creation process) of the gradient information 1042 obtained by the gradient calculation unit 1031 is described.

[0158] Fig.13 is a flowchart showing the database creation process. Fig.13 As shown, the vehicle control unit 1030 successively calculates the gradient information 1042 based on the sensor information detected from the sensor unit 1020 (S1100). Next, the vehicle control unit 1030 determines to which area Ar the position information of the calculated gradient information 1042 belongs (S1101).

[0159] Next, the vehicle control unit 1030 calculates the probability density P (weighting coefficient W) of the newly calculated gradient information 1042 based on the normal distribution of the gradient information 1042 calculated in the past (S1102). It is determined whether the calculated weighting coefficient W is greater than or equal to the prescribed threshold value Th (S1103). When it is determined that the weighting coefficient W is greater than or equal to the prescribed threshold value Th (YES in S1103), the vehicle control unit 1030 stores the gradient information 1042 including the weighting coefficient W in the storage unit 1040 (S1104), and the representative value determination unit 1033 calculates (updates) the representative value 1043 of the area Ar including the current driving location, and stores the representative value 1043 in the storage unit 1040 (S1105). When it is determined that the weighting coefficient W is less than the prescribed threshold value Th (NO in S1103), the vehicle control unit 1030 does not store the newly calculated gradient information 1042 in the storage unit 1040 but discards it (S1106). Then, the database creation process ends.

[0160] In addition, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the overall weighting coefficient W of the gradient information 1042 is defined, but the weighting coefficient W may be defined for each data of the gradient information 1042, and for each data, it is determined whether the weighting coefficient W is greater than or equal to a specified threshold value Th, and whether it is stored in the storage unit 1040 or discarded.

[0161] <Calculation method of weighting coefficient of gradient information>

[0162] As described in step S1103, the vehicle control unit 1030 can determine whether the weighting coefficient W is greater than or equal to the specified threshold Th when storing the gradient information 1042 in the storage unit 1040, and store the gradient information 1042 in the storage unit 1040 only when the weighting coefficient W is greater than or equal to the specified threshold Th.

[0163] Fig.14 This is a diagram for explaining a method of calculating the weighting coefficient W of the gradient information 1042. The vertical axis represents the probability density P (weighting coefficient W), and the horizontal axis represents the height of the past gradient information 1042 or the magnitude of the gradient.

[0164] For example Fig.14 As shown, the vehicle control unit 1030 calculates the deviation of the weighting coefficient W of the gradient information 1042 to be newly stored in the storage unit 1040 based on the past gradient information 1042. For example, regarding the gradient information 1042 to be newly stored in the storage unit 1040, it can be Fig.14When the deviation of the weighting coefficient W is located in the region X less than or equal to the predetermined threshold value Th, as in D1 of FIG. 1 , the accuracy of the gradient information 1042 is determined to be high, and the vehicle control unit 1030 stores the gradient information 1042 in the storage unit 1040. Fig.14 When the deviation of the weighting coefficient W is located in the region Y exceeding the predetermined threshold value Th, as in D2, the accuracy of the gradient information 1042 is determined to be low, and the vehicle control unit 1030 does not store the gradient information 1042 in the storage unit 1040. Fig.14 The vertical axis of the graph is the probability density P (weighting coefficient W), so if the whole is integrated, the integral value becomes 1.

[0165] As a result, it is possible to exclude low-precision sensor information detected by erroneous detection of the six-axis sensor 1023 or the position sensor 1024 and store high-precision gradient information 1042 .

[0166] <Leveling Angle Control Process>

[0167] If the storage unit 1040 storing the representative value 1043 at the reference position is used, the calculation time of the target leveling angle θ can be shortened. Fig.15 The leveling angle control processing flow is described.

[0168] Fig.15 FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the leveling angle control process. Fig.15 As shown, the vehicle control unit 1030 weights the sensor information detected from the sensor unit 1020 by the weighting coefficient W, and determines the position information of the first point and the travel direction of the current point based on the weighted sensor information (S1200).

[0169] Next, the target leveling angle calculation unit 1034 determines whether the representative value 1043 (tilt angle φ) of the gradient information 1042 of the area Ar in the traveling direction is stored in the storage unit 1040 (S1201). If the representative value 1043 is stored in the storage unit 1040 (YES in S1201), the target leveling angle calculation unit 1034 calculates the target leveling angle θ based on the representative value 1043 in the area corresponding to the traveling direction stored in the storage unit 1040 (S1202).

[0170] In addition, when the representative value 1043 is not stored in the storage unit 1040 (NO in S1201), the target leveling angle calculation unit 1034 can weight the tilt angle φ calculated by the gradient calculation unit 1031 using the weighting coefficient W, and calculate the target leveling angle θ based on the weighted tilt angle φ (S1203).

[0171] Next, the target leveling angle calculation unit 1034 outputs the calculated target leveling angle θ to the leveling angle control unit 1061. The leveling angle control unit 1061 controls the operation of the leveling actuator 1070 so as to approach the target leveling angle θ calculated by the target leveling angle calculation unit 1034 (S1204).

[0172] Then, the leveling angle control process ends.

[0173] According to the above configuration, it is possible to create a leveling control database that can effectively use past gradient information and realize high-precision leveling control.

[0174] In addition, the target leveling angle θ of the headlight 1050 at the specified first location is calculated based on the road surface angle θr at the specified second location reached by the vehicle 1010 after traveling for a specified number of seconds (for example, 1 second) or a specified distance (for example, 10 meters) from the first location. The road surface angle θr at the specified second location uses the representative value 1043 of the gradient information 1042 stored in the storage unit 1040. In addition, when the representative value 1043 of the gradient information 1042 at the specified second location is not stored in the storage unit 1040, the road surface angle θr at the specified second location calculated by the road surface angle calculation unit 32 may be used. In addition, the specified first location and the specified second location are located in the traveling direction of the vehicle 1010.

[0175] Furthermore, the configuration in which it is determined which region Ar the position information of the gradient information 1042 calculated by the gradient calculation unit 1031 belongs to is described one by one and the representative value 1043 is set, but the present invention is not limited to this.

[0176] The system 1100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention may be configured to include an external data server connected to the vehicle control unit 1030 via wireless communication, store all the gradient information 1042 calculated successively in the external data server, and calculate the representative value 1043 of the reference position based on the gradient information 1042 obtained successively. In this case, the external data server transmits the calculated representative value 1043 of the reference position to the storage unit 1040 mounted on the vehicle 1010 via wireless communication. If configured as described above, the calculation of the representative value 1043 of the reference position with a large calculation load can be processed outside the vehicle, and the database mounted on the vehicle 1010 can be kept compact.

[0177] In addition, Fig.10The format of the gradient information 1042 shown may include a road surface angle θr instead of the tilt angle φ. In this case, the target leveling angle calculation unit 1034 calculates the tilt angle φ by summing the road surface angle θr and the vehicle angle θv, and calculates the target leveling angle based on the calculated tilt angle φ.

[0178] <Structure of the leveling angle control system 2100>

[0179] Fig.16 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of a leveling angle control system 2100 (hereinafter, also referred to as "system 2100") according to a third embodiment of the present invention. System 2100 is a system that controls a leveling angle at a predetermined first point ahead of a current driving location of a vehicle 2010 based on a road surface angle at a point ahead of the current driving location of the vehicle 2010.

[0180] The system 2100 is a system for controlling the leveling angle of a vehicle headlamp 2050. The system 2100 is composed of, for example, a vehicle 2010 and the headlamp 2050.

[0181] The vehicle 2010 is composed of, for example, a camera 2021, a LiDAR 2022, a six-axis sensor 2023, and a position sensor 2024. The camera 2021 is provided to be able to capture at least the front of the vehicle 2010. The LiDAR 2022 is provided to be able to acquire at least the image of the front of the vehicle 2010.

[0182] The 6-axis sensor 2023 is, for example, a 6-axis acceleration sensor that detects acceleration and angular velocity in each direction of the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis that are orthogonal to each other. The 6-axis sensor 2023 is installed on the vehicle 2010 in a manner such that the x-axis is along the axis in the front-rear direction of the vehicle 2010, the y-axis is along the axis in the left-right direction of the vehicle 2010, and the z-axis is along the axis in the up-down direction of the vehicle 2010.

[0183] The position sensor 2024 is a sensor that detects the position information of the vehicle 2010 , and is, for example, a GPS sensor or a GNSS sensor.

[0184] The data obtained by the camera 2021 , the LiDAR 2022 , the six-axis sensor 2023 , and the position sensor 2024 are output to the vehicle control unit 2030 .

[0185] The vehicle control unit 2030 is composed of a gradient calculation unit 2031 , a traveling direction estimation unit 2032 , a determination unit 2033 , and a target leveling angle calculation unit 2034 .

[0186] The vehicle control unit 2030 controls various operations such as the travel of the vehicle 2010. The vehicle control unit 2030 includes, for example, a processor such as an ASIC, an FPGA, or a general-purpose CPU. In addition, although not shown, the vehicle 2010 includes, for example, a ROM storing various vehicle control programs and a RAM temporarily storing various vehicle control data. The processor of the vehicle control unit 2030 expands the data specified by the various vehicle control programs stored in the ROM on the RAM, and can control various operations of the vehicle 2010 by cooperating with the RAM.

[0187] The headlamp 2050 is mounted on the vehicle 2010 and radiates light toward the front of the vehicle 2010. The headlamp 2050 includes, for example, a light source unit for emitting light, a leveling actuator 2070, and a lamp control unit 2060 for controlling the light source unit and the leveling actuator 2070.

[0188] The lamp control unit 2060 is composed of a leveling angle control unit 2061. The lamp control unit 2060 includes a processor such as an ASIC, an FPGA, or a general-purpose CPU. In addition, although not shown in the figure, the lamp control unit 2060 includes, for example, a ROM storing various control programs and a RAM temporarily storing various control data. The processor of the lamp control unit 2060 expands the data specified by the various control programs stored in the ROM on the RAM, and can control various operations of the headlamp 2050 by cooperating with the RAM.

[0189] The leveling angle control unit 2061 controls the leveling angle of the headlight 2050 via the leveling actuator 2070 .

[0190] In addition, it may take time from the start of the operation of the leveling actuator 2070 included in the headlamp 2050 until the leveling angle reaches the target value (target leveling angle θ).

[0191] For example, sometimes it takes about 0.1 to 0.5 seconds from the time when the target leveling angle θ is calculated until the leveling angle actually reaches the target leveling angle θ. Alternatively, sometimes the light source of the headlight 2050 is composed of a plurality of LEDs, and the leveling angle is approximately controlled by controlling the lighting / extinguishing of each LED. In this case, sometimes it takes about 0.01 to 0.1 seconds from the time when the target leveling angle θ is calculated until the leveling angle actually reaches the target leveling angle θ. As described above, a delay time occurs from the start of the operation of the leveling actuator 2070 until the leveling angle reaches the target leveling angle θ.

[0192] Therefore, if the leveling angle is to be set to a predetermined value based on the gradient of the road surface at the current driving location of the vehicle 2010, it is too late even if the operation of the leveling actuator 2070 is started at the current driving location. Therefore, in the system 2100 according to the third embodiment of the present invention, the leveling angle is controlled in the following manner, that is, when the vehicle reaches the current driving location, control for setting the target leveling angle θ is started based on the gradient of the road surface at a certain location (hereinafter referred to as the first location) ahead of the current driving location, so that the leveling angle becomes appropriate when the vehicle 2010 reaches the first location.

[0193] In order to realize the above-described control, the leveling angle control unit 2061 operates based on various inputs from the vehicle control unit 2030 .

[0194] <Leveling angle control method for reference example>

[0195] Prior to the description of the leveling angle control method according to the third embodiment of the present invention, a leveling angle control method according to a reference example different from the third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0196] use Fig.17 , a leveling angle control method of the vehicle 2010 involved in the reference example is described.

[0197] Fig.17 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a target leveling angle θ and an actual leveling angle when the vehicle 2010 is traveling on a road.

[0198] like Fig.17 As shown in (a), when the vehicle 2010 is traveling on a flat road, the leveling angle of the headlight 2050 is set, for example, so that the center point of the light distribution pattern (point O where the H line and the V line intersect) is located 70 meters in front of the vehicle 2010. Fig.17 ) relative to the horizontal direction (indicated by line H2 in Fig.17 In the following description, the angle of 0.5 degrees downwardly tilted relative to the horizontal direction during driving on the flat road is referred to as the reference leveling angle of the headlamp 2050, and the leveling angle of the headlamp 2050 is represented by the angle offset from the reference leveling angle.

[0199] The reference leveling angle may have different values ​​depending on the mounting height of the headlamp 2050 on the vehicle 2010, regulations, etc. 0.5 degrees is just a number used for specific explanation.

[0200] Basically, the leveling angle of the headlight 2050 is set to an angle corresponding to the angle of the road surface on which the vehicle 2010 is traveling. Fig.17 When the vehicle 2010 is lowered as in (b) (the road surface angle is negative), the illumination reference point will be located at a position farther than 70 m in front of the vehicle 2010 while maintaining the reference leveling angle unchanged. Therefore, as the leveling angle is indicated by line H3, the illumination reference point is located 70 m in front of the vehicle 2010 by being inclined downward compared to the reference leveling angle.

[0201] In the leveling angle control method according to the reference example, the target leveling angle calculation unit 2034 calculates the target leveling angle θ of the headlight 2050 based on the gradient information 2042 of the first point determined according to the current position and the traveling direction of the vehicle 2010 .

[0202] Fig.18 This is a conceptual diagram used to illustrate the predicted direction of travel. Fig.18 As shown, the traveling direction estimating unit 2032 determines the current driving location of the vehicle 2010 based on the sensor information detected by the position sensor 2024. In addition, the traveling direction estimating unit 2032 estimates the predicted traveling direction of the vehicle 2010 based on the difference between the current location information and the location information at the immediately previous detection time. Furthermore, the traveling direction estimating unit 2032 determines a predetermined location (first location) in front of the vehicle 2010 and a reference area Ar of the gradient information 2042 based on the current driving location and the predicted traveling direction.

[0203] Then, the target leveling angle calculation unit 2034 reads out the gradient information 2042 of the first point stored in the storage unit 2040 . Fig.19 is the format of the gradient information 2042 involved in the reference example. Fig.19 As shown, the position information and the tilt angle φ at the position are stored in the storage unit 2040. Therefore, the target leveling angle calculation unit 2034 determines the tilt angle φ at the position that coincides with the first point or the position closest to the first point.

[0204] The target leveling angle calculation unit 2034 calculates the target leveling angle θ of the first location based on the determined inclination angle φ of the first location. The vehicle control unit 2030 outputs the calculated target leveling angle θ to the lamp control unit 2060, and the leveling angle control unit 2061 of the lamp control unit 2060 controls the leveling angle so as to become the input target leveling angle θ.

[0205] Furthermore, the reference area Ar shown in the example is a circular area centered on the first point, but may be a single area divided by a mesh.

[0206] In addition, the reference area Ar may be a variable area corresponding to the number of gradient information 2042. By setting the reference area Ar as a variable area, the range of the area can be changed according to the road environment of the driving location of the vehicle 2010, thereby improving the accuracy of the gradient information 2042 to be referenced. For example, when the number of gradient information 2042 included in the reference area Ar is less than or equal to a specified value, the reference area Ar can be enlarged to increase the number of gradient information 2042 to be referenced.

[0207] The target leveling angle calculation unit 2034 reads out the gradient information 2042 of the first location stored in the storage unit 2040. Fig.19 As shown, the gradient information 2042 includes position information and the tilt angle φ at the position. Therefore, the target leveling angle calculation unit 2034 determines the tilt angle φ at the position that coincides with the first point in the reference area Ar or the position closest to the first point.

[0208] <Gradient information format>

[0209] In the system 2100 according to the third embodiment of the present invention, each data of the gradient information 2042 is obtained by the six-axis sensor 2023 and the position sensor 2024 of the sensor unit 2020, and is used when calculating the target leveling angle θ as described above. The vehicle control unit 2030 obtains the sensor information at a predetermined time interval such as 1 millisecond while the vehicle 2010 is traveling, and stores it in the storage unit 2040 in association with the detection time.

[0210] Fig. 20 is the format of the gradient information 2042 involved in the third embodiment of the present invention. In the present invention, Fig. 20 As shown, a set of data including detection time, location information (north latitude and east longitude), tilt angle φ, and travel direction information 2043 is accompanied by a gradient information ID that can identify each data set. The gradient information ID and the set of data sets are collectively referred to as gradient information 2042.

[0211] <Leveling angle control method and system of the present invention>

[0212] In the leveling angle control method according to the reference example, the gradient information 2042 stored in the storage unit 2040 may include the gradient information 2042 calculated and obtained by traveling on a path different from the path that the current vehicle 2010 is traveling. If the traveling paths are different, the tilt angle of the vehicle 2010 will also be different, so the accuracy of the gradient information 2042 may be low. Therefore, there is a problem that if the tilt angle φ of the gradient information 2042 calculated and obtained by traveling on a different path is directly used to calculate the target leveling angle θ of the headlight 2050, the accuracy of the leveling angle to be controlled may be reduced.

[0213] Therefore, when the gradient information 2042 is calculated by the gradient calculation unit 2031 and stored in the storage unit 2040 in advance, the system 2100 according to the third embodiment of the present invention associates the traveling direction information 2043 estimated by the traveling direction estimation unit 2032 with the gradient information 2042 and stores them in the storage unit 2040 in advance. Fig.19 As shown, in the storage unit 2040, the traveling direction information is stored in addition to the position information and the tilt angle φ at the position. Furthermore, when calculating the target leveling angle θ, the target leveling angle calculation unit 2034 refers to the gradient information 2042 associated with the traveling direction information 2043 when the predicted traveling direction of the current vehicle 2010 estimated by the traveling direction estimation unit 2032 is consistent with the traveling direction information 2043 stored in the storage unit 2040.

[0214] Fig.21 This is a conceptual diagram for explaining a method of referring to the gradient information 2042 .

[0215] The determination unit 2033 determines whether the predicted traveling direction estimated by the traveling direction estimation unit 2032 is consistent with the traveling direction information 2043, and the traveling direction information 2043 is associated with the gradient information 2042 (referred to as the first gradient information) of the position closest to the first point. Fig.21 In the example of , since the two are inconsistent, the target leveling angle calculation unit 2034 does not refer to the first gradient information.

[0216] In addition, the determination unit 2033 determines whether the predicted traveling direction estimated by the traveling direction estimation unit 2032 is consistent with the traveling direction information 2043, and the traveling direction information 2043 is associated with the gradient information 2042 (referred to as the second gradient information) of the position second closest to the first point. Fig.21 In the example of , since the two are consistent, the target leveling angle calculation unit 2034 refers to the second gradient information to calculate and set the target leveling angle θ of the headlamp 2050.

[0217] In other words, if the vehicle 2010 has traveled the prescribed route in the past and the vehicle 2010 travels the prescribed route again, the target leveling angle θ of the headlight 2050 is set to the same value as the leveling angle during the past travel of the prescribed route.

[0218] Thus, it is possible to realize high-precision leveling control based on the gradient information 2042 calculated and acquired by traveling on the same path as the path along which the vehicle 2010 is currently traveling.

[0219] In addition, the traveling direction estimation unit 2032 may transform the estimated predicted traveling direction and traveling direction information 2043 into predicted traveling direction and traveling direction information composed of 16 directions, for example. In this case, the traveling direction estimation unit 2032 replaces the traveling direction information 2043 with the traveling direction information associated with the gradient information 2042 and stores them in advance in the storage unit 2040. The determination unit 2033 determines whether the transformed predicted traveling direction and the traveling direction information are consistent. When it is determined that the two are consistent, the determination unit 2033 determines that the predicted traveling direction and the traveling direction information 2043 are consistent.

[0220] Thus, by converting the predicted traveling direction and traveling direction information 2043 into 16 directions or the like to reduce the data size, the amount of data to be stored in the storage unit 2040 can be reduced, and the database mounted on the vehicle 2010 can be kept compact.

[0221] In addition, when the traveling direction estimating unit 2032 estimates the predicted traveling direction, it can also estimate the predicted speed of the vehicle 2010. In this case, the traveling direction estimating unit 2032 stores the estimated predicted speed as speed information in the storage unit 2040 in advance in association with the gradient information 2042 based on the traveling direction information 2043. In addition, the determination unit 2033 determines whether the predicted traveling direction and the traveling direction information 2043 are consistent, and whether the predicted speed and the speed information are consistent. When it is determined that the predicted traveling direction and the traveling direction information 2043 are consistent, and the predicted speed and the speed information are consistent, the target leveling angle calculation unit 34 sets the target leveling angle θ based on the gradient information 2042 associated with the traveling direction information 2043 and the speed information.

[0222] Thus, it is possible to implement high-precision leveling control based on the gradient information 2042 calculated and acquired by traveling along the same route as the route along which the current vehicle 2010 is traveling and at a speed similar to that along which the vehicle 2010 is traveling.

[0223] If the traveling direction information 2043 associated with the above-mentioned gradient information 2042 is used, the accuracy of the target leveling angle θ is improved. Fig. 22The leveling angle control processing flow is described.

[0224] Fig. 22 FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the leveling angle control process. Fig. 22 As shown, first, the traveling direction estimating unit 2032 determines the current traveling location of the vehicle 2010 based on the sensor information detected by the position sensor 2024, and estimates the predicted traveling direction of the vehicle 2010 based on the difference between the current location information and the location information at the immediately previous detection time (S2100). Next, the traveling direction estimating unit 2032 determines a predetermined location (first location) and a reference area Ar in front of the vehicle 2010 based on the current traveling location and the predicted traveling direction (S2101).

[0225] Next, the target leveling angle calculation unit 2034 determines whether the gradient information 2042 of the reference area Ar of the traveling direction is stored in the storage unit 2040 (S2102). When the gradient information 2042 is stored in the storage unit 2040 (YES in S2102), the determination unit 2033 refers to the gradient information 2042 (first gradient information) of the position (i=1) closest to the first point (S2103), and determines whether the predicted traveling direction estimated by the traveling direction estimation unit 2032 and the traveling direction information 2043 associated with the first gradient information are consistent (S2104).

[0226] When the predicted traveling direction estimated by the traveling direction estimating unit 2032 and the traveling direction information 2043 associated with the first gradient information are consistent (Yes in S2104), the target leveling angle calculating unit 2034 calculates the target leveling angle θ of the headlamp 2050 with reference to the first gradient information (S2105).

[0227] When the predicted traveling direction estimated by the traveling direction estimating unit 2032 and the traveling direction information 2043 associated with the first gradient information do not match (No in S2104), the target leveling angle calculating unit 2034 does not refer to the first gradient information. In this case, the determining unit 2033 refers to the gradient information 2042 (second gradient information) of the second position (i=2) closest to the first position (S2103), and determines whether the predicted traveling direction estimated by the traveling direction estimating unit 2032 and the traveling direction information 2043 associated with the second gradient information match (S2104). Steps S2103 and S2104 are repeated until the predicted traveling direction estimated by the traveling direction estimating unit 2032 and the traveling direction information 2043 associated with the gradient information 2042 match.

[0228] Then, the leveling angle control process ends.

[0229] According to the above configuration, it is possible to create a leveling control database that can effectively use past gradient information and realize high-precision leveling control.

[0230] In addition, the target leveling angle θ of the headlight 2050 at the specified first location is calculated based on the road surface angle θr at the specified second location reached by the vehicle 2010 after traveling for a specified number of seconds (for example, 1 second) or a specified distance (for example, 20 meters) from the first location. The road surface angle θr at the specified second location uses a representative value of the gradient information 2042 stored in the storage unit 2040. In addition, when the representative value of the gradient information 2042 at the specified second location is not stored in the storage unit 2040, the road surface angle θr at the specified second location calculated by the determination unit 2033 may be used. In addition, the specified first location and the specified second location are located in the traveling direction of the vehicle 2010.

[0231] Furthermore, in the description, when the gradient information 2042 is calculated, the traveling direction information 2043 estimated by the traveling direction estimating unit 2032 is associated with the gradient information 2042 and stored in advance in the storage unit 2040 , but the present invention is not limited to this.

[0232] The system 2100 according to the third embodiment of the present invention may be configured to include an external data server connected to the vehicle control unit 2030 via wireless communication, and to store all the successively calculated gradient information 2042 and the successively estimated traveling direction information 2043 in the external data server, and the vehicle control unit 2030 may further include a traveling direction receiving unit. In this case, the traveling direction receiving unit receives the traveling direction information 2043 associated with the gradient information 2042 of the position closest to the first location from the external data server, and the determination unit 2033 determines whether the estimated predicted traveling direction and the traveling direction information 2043 received by the traveling direction receiving unit are consistent. If configured as described above, the database mounted on the vehicle 2010 can be kept compact.

[0233] Furthermore, the predicted traveling direction and the traveling direction information 2043 may include information related to the vehicle 2010 (e.g., vehicle model, etc.), and the determination unit 2033 determines whether the information related to the vehicle 2010 included in the predicted traveling direction and the information related to the vehicle 2010 included in the traveling direction information 2043 are consistent. Thus, if a vehicle having the same information related to the vehicle 2010 (e.g., vehicle model, etc.) has traveled on the same path as the path that the current vehicle 2010 has traveled, the gradient information 2042 can be calculated and acquired, and high-precision leveling control can be achieved based on the gradient information 2042.

[0234] In addition, Fig.19The format of the gradient information 2042 shown may include a road surface angle θr instead of the tilt angle φ. In this case, the target leveling angle calculation unit 2034 calculates the tilt angle φ by summing the road surface angle θr and the vehicle angle θv, and calculates the target leveling angle based on the calculated tilt angle φ.

[0235] In addition, Fig. 22 The flowchart shown illustrates a method for determining whether the traveling direction is consistent in the gradient information belonging to the area Ar, starting from the gradient information close to the first location, but the present invention is not limited to this. In the present invention, the target leveling angle can also be calculated based on the inclination angle of the gradient information close to the first location and close to the traveling direction of the vehicle 2010. For example, a comprehensive index formed by combining an index representing the difference between the position information of the gradient information and the position information of the first location and an index representing the difference between the traveling direction of the gradient information and the traveling direction of the vehicle 2010 can be calculated based on each gradient information in the area Ar, and the target leveling angle can be calculated based on the inclination angle of the gradient information with the smallest comprehensive index.

[0236] The above describes the embodiment of the present invention, but it should not be interpreted that the technical scope of the present invention is limited to the description of this embodiment. This embodiment is just an example, and those skilled in the art should understand that various embodiments can be changed within the scope of the invention described in the claims. The technical scope of the present invention should be determined based on the scope of the invention described in the claims and its equivalent scope.

[0237] This application is based on the Japanese patent application (Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-165702) filed on October 14, 2022, the Japanese patent application (Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-165703) filed on October 14, 2022, and the Japanese patent application (Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-165704) filed on October 14, 2022, and the contents thereof are incorporated herein by reference.

Claims

1. A method for creating a database, the database being used for leveling control of a vehicle lamp, having map information for vehicle travel and a plurality of reference positions associated with the map information, In the database creation method, A representative value is set based on a plurality of gradient information within a region including at least one of the reference positions, and the representative value is stored in association with the reference position.

2. The database creation method according to claim 1, in, The region is a variable region corresponding to the number of the plurality of gradient information.

3. The database creation method according to claim 1, in, The region is a divided region obtained by dividing the map information into grids.

4. The database creation method according to claim 1, in, The area is a circular area.

5. The database creation method according to claim 1, in, An average value or a median value of a plurality of the gradient information within the region is set as a representative value.

6. A leveling control method, which uses a database created by the database creation method described in any one of claims 1 to 5 to control the leveling angle of the vehicle lamp based on the representative value in the area corresponding to the current driving location of the vehicle or the travel direction of the vehicle.

7. A database used in leveling control of a vehicle lamp, The database is characterized by: Map information for vehicle driving; a plurality of reference locations associated with the map information; and The representative value is set in association with the reference position based on a plurality of gradient information within a region including at least one of the reference positions.

8. A method for creating a database, the database being used for leveling control of a vehicle lamp, comprising map information for vehicle travel and a plurality of reference positions associated with the map information, The database creation method is characterized in that: A plurality of gradient information items within a region including at least one of the reference positions are weighted and stored.

9. The database creation method according to claim 8, in, A representative value in the region is set based on the gradient information having a weight greater than or equal to a threshold value among the plurality of gradient information given weights, and the representative value corresponding to each of the plurality of reference positions is associated and stored. 10 . A leveling control method for controlling a leveling angle of a vehicle lamp using a database created by the database creation method according to claim 8 or 9 .

11. A database used in leveling control of a vehicle lamp, The database is characterized by: Map information for vehicle driving; a plurality of reference locations associated with the map information; Area information, which includes at least one of the reference positions; and A plurality of gradient information, which are within the region indicated by the region information, are weighted.

12. A method for creating a database, the database being used in leveling control of a vehicle lamp, The database creation method is characterized in that: Obtaining at least one of the gradient information and the position information and assigning a weight, A predicted moving direction is estimated and stored based on at least one of the weighted gradient information and the position information. 13 . A leveling control method for controlling a leveling angle of a vehicle lamp using a database created by the database creation method according to claim 12 .

14. A database used in leveling control of a vehicle lamp, The database is characterized by: A predicted moving direction is provided, the predicted moving direction being estimated based on at least one of the acquired and weighted gradient information and the position information.

15. A control system for a vehicle lamp, which uses a database including travel direction information and gradient information associated with the travel direction information to set a target leveling angle of the vehicle lamp, The control system is characterized by having: a traveling direction estimating unit for estimating a predicted traveling direction of the vehicle based at least on the position information of the vehicle; a determination unit for determining whether the plurality of traveling directions are consistent; as well as a target leveling angle calculation unit that calculates a target leveling angle of the vehicle lamp corresponding to a road surface angle, When the determination unit determines that the predicted traveling direction estimated by the traveling direction estimation unit is consistent with the traveling direction information pre-recorded in the database, the target leveling angle calculation unit calculates and sets a target leveling angle based on the gradient information associated with the traveling direction information.

16. The vehicle lighting control system according to claim 15, in, The traveling direction estimating unit converts the predicted traveling direction into a predicted traveling direction. The determination unit determines that the predicted traveling direction and the traveling direction information are consistent with each other when determining that the predicted traveling direction and the traveling direction information converted from the traveling direction information are consistent with each other.

17. The vehicle lighting control system according to claim 15, in, The traveling direction estimating unit estimates a predicted speed of the predicted traveling direction. When the determination unit determines that the predicted speed in the predicted traveling direction and the speed information of the traveling direction information match, the target leveling angle calculation unit sets the target leveling angle based on the gradient information associated with the traveling direction information.

18. The vehicle lighting control system according to claim 15, in, It also includes a traveling direction receiving unit, which receives the traveling direction information from the outside. When the determination unit determines that the predicted traveling direction and the traveling direction information received by the traveling direction receiving unit are consistent with each other, the target leveling angle calculation unit sets a target leveling angle based on gradient information associated with the traveling direction information.

19. The vehicle lighting control system according to claim 18, in, The predicted traveling direction and the traveling direction information include information related to the vehicle. The determination unit determines whether the information about the vehicle in the predicted traveling direction and the information about the vehicle in the traveling direction information received by the traveling direction receiving unit are consistent with each other.

20. A control system for a vehicle lamp, It is characterized in that If a vehicle has traveled a predetermined route in the past and the vehicle is traveling the predetermined route again, The leveling angle of the vehicle lamp is set to the same value as the leveling angle during the travel along the predetermined route in the past.

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