Method for dynamically controlling a vehicle lighting system, computer element, computer program and lighting system for implementing the method

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method, a computer element, a computer program, a lighting system (1) and a vehicle (100) comprising such a system (1) comprising, on the one hand, a plurality of lighting devices (5) controlled by a control unit (2) comprising processing means for providing a plurality of lighting configurations of said system (1) projecting light comprising illuminating light visible to the human eye and, on the other hand, a plurality of light sensors (3) configured to acquire a part of a reflection of said projected light within a detection field, said control unit (2) being further configured to receive data from the light sensors to acquire data on the external environment of the vehicle, the method being characterized in that it is implemented by said control unit (2) which controls at least one lighting device (5) to emit,within a dark field the illumination of which is prohibited by regulations and / or standards, a non-illuminating light for which the sensitivity of the human eye is low, said non-illuminating light being obtained by emitting pulses of light having a wavelength and / or a duration and a frequency for which the sensitivity of the human eye is low, such that said control unit (2) decodes the signal received from the light sensors (3) in response to the non-illuminating light in said dark field despite the absence of illumination visible to the human eye, below the threshold defined by said regulations and / or standards. Abstract figure: Figure 1,

Description

Title of the invention: Method for dynamically controlling a vehicle lighting system, computer element, computer program and lighting system for implementing the method

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of lighting (and / or signaling) devices for vehicles, more particularly for motor vehicles such as automobiles, equipped with “Lidar” type technology for detecting visible light. The invention relates more particularly to the management of these devices to assist users (in other words, the driver or a person inside or outside the vehicle).

[0002] In fact, several technical problems are emerging in the field of lighting devices for vehicles using the detection of light signals in order to better assist users. This assistance to users, often called driving assistance, includes the use of sensors in order to inform the driver (or directly inform the vehicle or any user who may have access to the information) of the presence of objects surrounding the vehicle or of any type of configuration of the vehicle constituting relevant information for the users.This user assistance is known in the field of motor vehicles, for example with the advanced driver assistance system (known by the acronym AD AS for “Advanced Driver Assistance System” in English) and autonomous driving systems (known by the acronym ADS for “Autonomous Driving Systems” in English, autonomous driving itself being known by the acronym AD for “Autonomous Driving”) which apply to different speed ranges (usually lower speed for ADAS and higher speed for AD) and have different levels defined by the regulations in force in different countries. The various functionalities are therefore known and do not need to be described in detail in the present application, which aims to improve this assistance.To achieve this goal, sensors play a vital role as they receive information from outside the vehicle containing the data that needs to be interpreted to create a map of the surrounding objects. There are many different sensors that are designed to fulfill this mission. The majority of them use ultrasound, with acoustic pulses. Cameras are also adapted to capture infrared or visible ambient light. In some cases, however, for example when the detection area is too large or the ambient light is too low or too high, etc., cameras may be unsuitable for a . precise detection. Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging or Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) technology is a well-known laser (or light) remote sensing technology that uses a telemetry technique based on analyzing the properties of a beam of light returned to its emitter.

[0003] An advantageous type of LiDAR technology has been developed using visible light, so as to allow sensors to use the reflection of light emitted by the vehicle's lighting system to thereby provide detection in the vehicle's environment. This technology generally uses the blue wavelength (410-490 nm) for its ease of discrimination compared to natural light (emanating from the sun), since vehicle lighting systems generally emit light with a peak in the blue wavelength, the main advantage however being that the vehicle's lighting system is used for detection.The same device, which may be used for lighting functions (including a low beam, or LB abbreviated in English, a high beam, or HB abbreviated, a daytime running light, or DRL abbreviated, a position light, or PL abbreviated, a stop light, or stop light, a reverse light, or CL abbreviated, a corner light, or CL abbreviated, or a turn indicator, or TI abbreviated), may also be used for object detection. The term “light sensors” is understood in this document as the sensor as a whole, which generally comprises a photodiode (a semiconductor component capable of capturing radiation from the optical domain and converting it into an electrical signal), generally behind an optical system for transmitting and / or filtering the light.Such a sensor transmits the electrical signal to the control unit, possibly via a dedicated microchip that may be implemented within the sensor itself. The term “Lidar” is therefore used in the present application to designate this technology using visible light emitted by the vehicle's lighting system (without requiring additional emitting devices). This technology has been used in many different ways, within the field of the present application, for example as disclosed in patent applications EP4201740, EP4201741, EP4202496, EP4202503, EP4202495, EP4202384 and WO202330817.These applications teach the use of several light emitters (lighting devices) with different parameters such as (signal) frequency, wavelength, waveform, projection / reflection angle, lenses and so on, with the signal being acquired by several respective sensors dedicated to these various parameters (with filters, detection angles, lenses . and so on). The present application uses this technology on the basis of coding, by the light emitted by the lighting devices of a vehicle, a signal which is returned to sensors and analyzed by a processing unit (or “control unit”) configured to calculate various characteristics, in particular for example the time of flight (ToF, acronym in English for Time of Flight) of the signal coded in the emitted light and to enable various functionalities, such as obtaining information concerning surrounding objects.

[0004] User assistance, such as AD or ADAS, raises a number of problems, particularly due to the various levels of assistance. While this assistance may be improved by detecting visible light, several problems nevertheless remain. For example, a disadvantage in the prior art lies in the fact that regulations and standards on Lighting or Signaling impose certain lighting zones around the vehicle and prohibit the emission of light in other zones. The field of vision (the FoV or detection field) of a LiDAR using visible light is therefore limited. These constraints prevent these zones from being illuminated, which makes object detection impossible, particularly on the sides of the vehicle. However, the AD AS or AD functions need information from these zones to make the right decision.It is therefore difficult, under certain conditions, to provide precise assistance due to poor detection and poor integration of the vehicle's environment.

[0005] The present invention aims to overcome at least certain drawbacks of the priori by proposing solutions for the management of vehicle lighting and the optimization of assistance to users, preferably while limiting the increase in costs and / or energy consumption and while complying with regulations.

[0006] This objective is achieved by a method defined in independent claim 1.

[0007] The dependent claims present other advantageous characteristics and features of the invention.

[0008] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the description of various embodiments below, made with reference to the accompanying drawings. In fact, a set of drawings is provided for the purpose of supplementing the description and enabling a better understanding of the invention. These drawings illustrate one embodiment of the invention and form an integral part of the description. They should not be interpreted to limit the scope of the invention, but only as an example of a possible embodiment of the invention. The drawings include the following figures:

[0009] [Fig.l] [Fig.l] shows a schematic view of a vehicle lighting system according to certain embodiments;

[0010] [Fig.2] [Fig.2] shows a schematic view of a vehicle and its field lighting having illuminating light and non-illuminating light as well as an example architecture of a lighting device for such light emission, according to certain embodiments;

[0011] [Fig.3] [Fig.3] shows a schematic view of a lighting device of a vehicle and its lighting field having illuminating light and non-illuminating light as well as an example architecture of a lighting device for such light emission, according to certain other embodiments.

[0012] The present invention relates to a method for dynamically controlling a lighting system (1) for a vehicle, as well as a computer element, a computer program and a lighting system for implementing the method. The present application mentions a control unit which controls the lighting, but which is also configured to control the lighting and detection functions, for example by performing calculations, comparisons, and so on. Those skilled in the art will of course understand that several control units may be provided for the different tasks and cooperate to implement the invention, or that a single unit may perform all the tasks.Furthermore, the person skilled in the art will naturally understand that, due to the nature of the tasks performed, such a unit will generally comprise at least one processor executing instructions and that various forms of implementation are possible (using different electronic components) and that it is therefore not necessary to give details on the types of hardware that can be used or used. The drawings presented on the figure pages are given only as an example and in a very schematic manner, so as to allow the person skilled in the art to envisage any type of variants on the basis of the content of the present application.

[0013] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein shall be interpreted in accordance with professional practice, particularly in the field of lighting and signaling of motor vehicles, particularly automobiles. It is also understood that terms in common usage shall be interpreted as being customary in the relevant art, and not in an idealized or overly formal sense, and shall not be interpreted in a limiting manner unless expressly defined as such herein. Furthermore, in the present application, as is generally accepted in the field of patent applications, the terms "comprising", "comprise" and "comprises" and their derivatives (including "comprising", "comprises", etc.) should not be understood in an exclusive sense, in other words these terms should not be interpreted as excluding the possibility that what is described or defined may include other elements, steps, etc.

[0014] The expressions “lighting system” and “lighting device” are understood in the present application both for the lighting itself and for the signage, in particular: devices for illuminating the vehicle's surroundings, - either to enable one to see, for example dipped beam headlights (LB), cornering lights (CL) or main beam headlights (HB), even if the latter are generally prohibited under certain conditions, particularly in urban areas, - or to enable one to be seen, such as position lights (PL), rear position lights (RPL) or daytime running lights (DRL), but also devices that allow one to signal a driver's actions to other users, such as brake lights (SL), direction indicator lights (turn signals or TI,according to the English terminology “Turn Indicator”) or hazard lights (W, according to the English terminology “Waming”).

[0015] The lighting system (1) therefore comprises a plurality of lighting (or signaling) devices (5) which may be of the type of the examples (PL, CL, LB, HB, DRL, SL, TI, W) given above, which are neither exhaustive nor limiting. Generally speaking, it will be considered that the system also comprises the control (or processing) unit (2) which makes it possible to control the system (1) and to implement the process. Each device may comprise one or more light sources depending on the type of lighting (incandescent bulbs or light-emitting diode (LED), for example). Furthermore, the light sensors (3) are considered to be part of the lighting system, the sensors being able to be incorporated in the headlights or elsewhere.These considerations of the system comprising the control unit and the sensors therefore do not limit the scope in any way, and those skilled in the art will be aware of the various ways of implementing the invention for the present disclosure.

[0016] In some embodiments, at least one of the lighting devices comprises a matrix arrangement of light pixels in the form of rows and columns. In some particular cases, the matrix comprises at least 2000 solid-state light sources. A matrix arrangement is a typical example of this process. Rows may be grouped into projected distance intervals and each column in each group represents an angle interval. This angle value depends on the resolution of the matrix, which is generally between 0.01° per column and 0.5° per column. This row and column control allows independent control of angle and range, in addition to intensity, and allows multiple light sources to be managed at the same time. In some such embodiments lization, following one of said reductions, certain rows or columns are deactivated compared to the initial light intensity. In fact, modern lighting devices often include “solid state” light sources and the invention makes it possible to take advantage of this type of device which notably allows an adaptation of photo-tometry. The term “solid state” refers to light emitted by solid state electroluminescence, which uses semiconductors to convert electricity into light. Compared to incandescent lighting, solid state lighting creates visible light with reduced heat production and less energy dissipation. The generally low mass of a solid state electronic lighting device offers better resistance to shock and vibration than fragile glass tubes / bulbs and long, thin filaments.Filament evaporation is also eliminated, increasing the lifespan of the lighting device. Examples of these types of lighting include solid-state light-emitting diodes (LEDs), organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), or polymer-based light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) used as lighting sources instead of electric filaments, plasma, or gas. This process aims to determine the optimal light pattern to be projected by a lighting device. Predetermined usage scenarios are defined, and a corresponding light pattern is projected when the method identifies that the vehicle is in one of the predefined usage scenarios. An optimal light pattern is thus determined without excessive computational cost, due to the reasonable number of predefined usage scenarios.

[0017] In fact, the present invention aims to provide detection capabilities, without illuminating the vehicle's surroundings, within a “dark field” imposed by regulations and / or standards (the expression “dark field” being used for purely illustrative purposes and in no way limiting). This adaptation is facilitated in the case of LEDs, which allow total control of the activated (lit) elements but also of the various parameters of the light beams (orientation / angle, range, intensity, etc.), including photometry (e.g. the size and shape of the lighting field), but also the frequency of the pulses for the detection functions, the wavelength of the light and the power peak.

[0018] Some embodiments of the present invention relate to a method for dynamically controlling a lighting system (1) for a vehicle, said system (1) comprising, on the one hand, a plurality of lighting devices (5) controlled by a control unit (2) comprising processing means for providing a plurality of lighting configurations of said system (1) projecting light comprising illuminating light visible to the human eye and, on the other hand, a plurality of light sensors (3) configured to acquire a portion of a reflection of said light projected within a detection field, said control unit (2) being further configured to receive data from the light sensors to acquire data on the external environment of the vehicle.According to preferred embodiments, the method is implemented by said control unit (2) which controls at least one lighting device (5) to emit, within a dark field the lighting of which is prohibited by regulations and / or standards, a non-illuminating light for which the sensitivity of the human eye is low, said non-illuminating light being obtained by emitting pulses of light having a wavelength and / or a duration and a frequency for which the sensitivity of the human eye is low, such that said control unit (2) decodes the signal received from the light sensors (3) in response to the non-illuminating light in said dark field despite the absence of lighting visible to the human eye, below the threshold defined by said regulations and / or standards.

[0019] It is therefore clear that by ordering the lighting device to emit light that is less visible to the human eye, the present invention makes it possible to implement detection functions in areas surrounding the vehicle in which lighting is prohibited (in other words, in a “dark field”). The terms “lighting” or “illuminating” are used in the present application to define the fact that the light will produce enough lumens to illuminate the environment, and the opposite term “non-illuminating” is used to define the fact that the lumens will remain below the threshold imposed by the regulations and / or standards.

[0020] The invention advantageously modifies the lighting so as to allow the emission of a specific (“non-illuminating”) light specifically within the dark field, which is useful for user assistance (AD or AD AS).

[0021] In some embodiments, the method further comprises controlling at least a portion of the lighting devices (5) to emit illuminating light that is visible to the human eye, within an illumination field permitted by regulations and / or standards. Such visible light comprises short high-frequency pulses encoding a signal, such that said control unit (2) decodes the signal received from the light sensors (3) in response to said illuminating light. This visible light corresponds to the standard known in the prior art and is, of course, preferably used to illuminate the vehicle environment in addition to the non-illuminating light according to the present invention.

[0022] In some embodiments, said non-illuminating light has a lower power peak than that of the illuminating light. In fact, it is difficult to obtain non-illuminating light and reducing the intensity or the power peak is not sufficient since it would hinder the detection functions. This solution is therefore not possible. The other solutions discussed in more detail below may however benefit from a reduction in power peaks.

[0023] In some embodiments, said non-illuminating light has a wavelength in the blue, close to ultraviolet. In fact, it has been observed that the human eye is able to distinguish blue light but that it has very low sensitivity to some of the wavelengths in the blue. For example, emission at 400 nm instead of 440 nm results in a reduction in sensitivity by a factor of 2 or 3. A lighting device emitting light with a wavelength below 420 nm is therefore preferred, ideally below 410 nm. This may not be sufficient to obtain light that complies with regulations or standards (i.e. “non-visible”), so in these embodiments, a reduction in the peak power is preferred.However, the forbidden zone (dark field) is usually located on the side of the vehicle and the side detection only needs to detect a restricted area around the vehicle, so reducing the power peak is not a problem. As for the configuration of the lighting device to emit light at this frequency, it can be achieved by means of a standard device with at least one filter for the dark field and / or by means of a lighting device with a specific configuration (e.g. blue LED only, without phosphor layer).

[0024] In certain embodiments, said non-illuminating light has a wavelength in the infrared. Such embodiments may, however, optionally be used in combination with the other embodiments described herein.

[0025] In these embodiments with a specific wavelength for the non-illuminating light, the same sensor receives both illuminating and non-illuminating light and transmits the detected signal at the same frequency but at different wavelengths to the control unit (2) which integrates the two signals for further processing. An illustrative and non-limiting example of such embodiments is shown in [Fig. 3]. The left part of [Fig. 3] shows a vehicle with two lighting devices (5) and a single common sensor (3). One lighting device (5) emits light in an illuminating light field (FIL) and one lighting device (5) emits light in a “dark” field light (FDL) (the term “dark” means that the light is not really visible to the human eye, in accordance with regulations or standards).The sensor (3) has a detection field (SF) covering both fields (FIL, FDL) of the lighting devices (5). The right part of [Fig.3] shows an example of the architecture of the lighting devices (5) which are controlled by a microprocessor with the same code and which emit different wavelengths in the respective fields (FIL, FDL) of light. In fact, the same sensor can be able to detect the coded signal in . pulses of light regardless of wavelength, so there is no need for a dedicated sensor. A dedicated sensor may, however, be used in embodiments that use specific wavelengths.

[0026] In some embodiments, said non-illuminating light has a pulse duration of the same order of magnitude as that of the illuminating light but a frequency at least ten times lower than that of the illuminating light. Such a solution proves advantageous even if it has certain limitations in terms of coding (reducing the number of pulses per unit of time will result in a reduction in the amount of information). That said, the generated signal can still be used to encode enough information for correct detection (in particular because the “dark field” requires less precision than the rest of the environment).In embodiments with a specific pulse frequency, the illuminating light and the non-illuminating light are respectively emitted by different lighting devices and respectively received by two different sensors dedicated to their signal frequency, both types of sensors transmitting their detected signal to the control unit (2) which integrates both signals for further processing. An illustrative and non-limiting example of such embodiments is shown in [Fig.2]. The left part of [Fig.2] shows a vehicle with two lighting devices (5) and two different sensors (3). One lighting device (5) emits light in an illuminating light field (FIL) and one lighting device (5) emits light in a “dark” field light (FDL) (the term “dark” means that the light is not really visible to the human eye, according to regulations or standards).The illumination light field (FIL) is detected by a sensor (3) having a corresponding detection field, namely illumination detection (FIS), while the dark field (FDL) of the other illumination device (5) is detected by the other sensor (3) having a corresponding detection field, namely dark detection (FDS). The right part of [Fig.2] shows an example of the architecture of the illumination devices (5) which are controlled by a microprocessor with two different codes. It should be noted that a combination of the embodiments with a specific frequency and with a specific wavelength is possible and advantageous because the resulting light will be less visible to the human eye.It is thus possible to avoid a reduction of the power peak, although it is always possible to also reduce the power peak in a specific wavelength and frequency combination so as to obtain a non-illuminating light that is barely visible to the human eye but still codes effectively for the detection system. Furthermore, as mentioned above, due to the reduction (in size) of the dark field around the vehicle (in accordance with regulations and standards), the reduction of the peak . power is usually not a problem.

[0027] Regarding the configuration of the lighting devices, many embodiments are possible, and the invention will use a combination of at least two types of light sources to obtain the illuminating and non-illuminating lights. Thus, in some embodiments, the lighting devices (5) comprise groups of light sources and all the sources of the same group share a light characteristic, which is not shared by any other light source of a different group. This light characteristic may be at least one of frequency, color and waveform or pulse duration and frequency. Preferably, the light sources are solid-state light sources comprising light-emitting diodes or laser diodes. As usual, the light sensors comprise an optical receiving arrangement in front of the sensor.

[0028] The present invention also relates to a computer element comprising means for implementing certain embodiments of the method (or process) described in the present application. In fact, this method uses a control unit (2) provided with computer resources and connected to sensors (3) to control the lighting system (1) for a vehicle. These computing resources are known per se and can be implemented by a computer element. Thus, certain embodiments also relate to a computer element comprising means for implementing the steps of a method according to the invention. In this respect, it is known that such computer means for implementing such a method generally require a computer program unless analog programming is envisaged.Thus, certain embodiments relate to a computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a control unit (2), cause the control unit to execute the steps of a method according to the invention. Finally, insofar as the invention is intended to be mounted on a vehicle, certain embodiments relate to a lighting system (1) for a vehicle comprising: . - a plurality of lighting devices (5); - a plurality of light sensors (3); - a control unit (2) for carrying out the steps of the method according to one of the embodiments described in this document.

[0029] Finally, the present invention also relates to a motor vehicle (100) comprising such a lighting system (1).

[0030] The present application describes various technical characteristics and advantages with reference to the figures and / or to the various embodiments. Those skilled in the art will understand that the technical characteristics of a given embodiment may in fact be combined with features of another embodiment unless expressly indicated otherwise or unless these features are manifestly incompatible or the combination does not make it possible to solve at least one of the technical problems mentioned in the present application. The technical features described in a given embodiment may also be isolated from the other features of this embodiment unless expressly indicated otherwise.

[0031] Detailed list of references in the Figures: 1 lighting system 100 motor vehicle 2 control unit 3 light sensors 5 lighting (and / or signaling) device FIL illuminating light field FDL dark light field SF detection field FIS lighting detection field FDS dark detection field

Claims

Claims

1. A method for dynamically controlling a lighting system (1) for a vehicle, said system (1) comprising, on the one hand, a plurality of lighting devices (5) controlled by a control unit (2) comprising processing means for providing a plurality of lighting configurations of said system (1) projecting light comprising illuminating light visible to the human eye and, on the other hand, a plurality of light sensors (3) configured to acquire a portion of a reflection of said projected light within a detection field, said control unit (2) being further configured to receive data from the light sensors to acquire data on the external environment of the vehicle, the method being characterized in that it is implemented by said control unit (2) which controls at least one lighting device (5) to emit,within a dark field the illumination of which is prohibited by regulations and / or standards, a non-illuminating light for which the sensitivity of the human eye is low, said non-illuminating light being obtained by emitting pulses of light having a wavelength and / or a duration and a frequency for which the sensitivity of the human eye is low, in such a way that said control unit (2) decodes the signal received from the light sensors (3) in response to the non-illuminating light in said dark field despite the absence of illumination visible to the human eye, below the threshold defined by said regulations and / or standards.,

2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising controlling at least some of the lighting devices (5) to emit illuminating light which is visible to the human eye, within an illumination field permitted by regulations and / or standards.

3. A method according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein said non-illuminating light has a lower peak power than the illuminating light.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said non-illuminating light has a wavelength in the blue, near ultraviolet.

5. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said non-illuminating light has a wavelength in the infrared.

6. Method according to claim 4 or 5, in which the same sensor receives both illuminating light and non-illuminating light and transmits the detected signal at the same frequency but at different wavelengths to the control unit (2) which integrates the two signals for further processing.

7. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein said non-illuminating light has a pulse duration of the same order of magnitude as that of the illuminating light but a frequency at least ten times lower than that of the illuminating light.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the illuminating light and the non-illuminating light are respectively emitted by different lighting devices and respectively received by two different sensors dedicated to their signal frequency, the two types of sensors transmitting their detected signal to the control unit (2) which integrates the two signals for further processing.

9. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the lighting devices (5) comprise groups of light sources and all sources of the same group share a light characteristic, which is not shared by any other light source of a different group.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the light characteristic is at least one of frequency, color and waveform or pulse duration and frequency.

11. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the light sources are solid state light sources.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the solid state light sources comprise light emitting diodes or laser diodes.

13. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein at least one of the light sensors comprises an optical receiving arrangement in front of the sensor.

14. Computer element comprising means for implementing the process according to any one of the preceding claims.

15. A computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a control unit (2), cause the control unit to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

16. Lighting system (1) for a vehicle, comprising: - a plurality of lighting devices (5); - a plurality of light sensors (3); - a control unit (2) for carrying out the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

17. Motor vehicle (100) comprising a lighting system (1) according to the preceding claim.

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