Headlamp control device, headlamp control method, and headlamp system

Abstract

To provide a headlamp control device, headlamp control method and headlamp system capable of enhancing visibility in front and to the sides of an own vehicle during rainfall.SOLUTION: A headlamp control device is a device for controlling operation of each of a first headlamp disposed on the same side as a side on which a driver's seat of an own vehicle is disposed, and a second headlamp disposed on an opposite side to the side on which the driver's seat is disposed. When an amount of rainfall is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, a controller 1 performs control such that first illuminating light from the first headlamp is relatively darker than second illuminating light from the second headlamp, performs control such that an illumination width of the second illuminating light becomes narrower, biased toward the opposite side to the side on which the driver's seat is disposed, and performs control to provide a gradually changing part at an end of the second illuminating light on the same side as the side on which the driver's seat is disposed, in which light intensity gradually decreases and / or height in a vertical direction gradually decreases.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a headlamp control device, a headlamp control method, and a headlamp system. [Background technology]

[0002] JP 2022-109440 A (Patent Document 1) describes a headlamp system including a first headlamp unit and a second headlamp unit spaced apart in the vehicle width direction at the front of the vehicle, which controls the light emitted by the first headlamp unit to be relatively darker than the light emitted by the second headlamp unit when the amount of rainfall is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. This headlamp system improves the visibility of pedestrians on the sidewalk to the side of the vehicle, but the lane on which the vehicle is traveling becomes relatively dark, so there is room for improvement in terms of improving visibility in the direction ahead of the vehicle's travel direction. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2022-109440 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] One of the objectives of a specific embodiment of the present disclosure is to improve visibility in front of and to the sides of a vehicle during rainfall. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] [1] A control device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes: A device for controlling the operation of a first headlight arranged on the same side as a driver's seat of a vehicle and a second headlight arranged on an opposite side to the driver's seat, a controller connected to each of the first headlamp and the second headlamp to control operations of the first headlamp and the second headlamp; Including, The controller: When the amount of rainfall is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the first light emitted by the first headlamp is controlled to be relatively darker than the second light emitted by the second headlamp; Controlling the irradiation width of the second irradiation light so as to be biased and narrowed toward the side opposite to the side where the driver's seat is located; Controlling so that a gradual change portion in which the light intensity is gradually decreased and / or the vertical height is gradually decreased is provided at an end portion of the second illumination light on the same side as the side where the driver's seat is located; This is a headlamp control device that executes the above. [2] A control method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes: A method for controlling the operation of a first headlight disposed on the same side as a driver's seat of a vehicle and a second headlight disposed on an opposite side to the driver's seat, comprising: The controller When the amount of rainfall is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the first light emitted by the first headlamp is controlled to be relatively darker than the second light emitted by the second headlamp; Controlling the irradiation width of the second irradiation light so as to be biased and narrowed toward the side opposite to the side where the driver's seat is located; and Controlling so that a gradual change portion in which the light intensity is gradually decreased and / or the vertical height is gradually decreased is provided at an end portion of the second illumination light on the same side as the side where the driver's seat is located; The present invention relates to a headlamp control method. [3] A headlamp system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes: The control device according to [1] above; A first headlamp and a second headlamp connected to the control device; A headlamp system comprising:

[0006] According to the above configuration, it is possible to improve visibility in front of and to the sides of the vehicle during rainfall. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] Fig. 1A is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a headlamp system according to an embodiment, and Fig. 1B is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a computer system. [Diagram 2] Fig. 2(A) is a diagram for explaining light distribution control in the headlamp system of this embodiment, and Fig. 2(B) is a diagram for explaining light distribution control in another embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of an embodiment of the controller of the headlamp system. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing how the adaptive driving beam is irradiated. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of another embodiment of the controller of the headlamp system. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of the adaptive driving beam irradiation in step S31. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] 1(A) is a diagram showing the configuration of a headlamp system according to an embodiment. The illustrated headlamp system includes a controller 1, an imaging device 2, a lamp switch 3, a rainfall sensor 4, and a pair of headlamp units 5a and 5b. This headlamp system is for emitting light ahead of a vehicle.

[0009] The controller 1 controls the light irradiation state of each of the headlamp units 5a and 5b. The controller 1 can be configured using a computer system such as that shown in Fig. 1(B), that is, a computer system including a processor (CPU: Central Processing Unit) 201, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 202, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 203, a storage device 204 such as a flash memory, an input / output interface 205, and the like. The controller 1 of this embodiment is capable of performing each function described below by reading and executing a program 206 stored in advance in the storage device 204 by the processor.

[0010] The controller 1 includes an irradiation state setting unit 11 and a control signal generating unit 12 as functions realized by executing a program.

[0011] The illumination state setting unit 11 sets a light distribution pattern, which is the state of the light illuminated by each headlight unit 5a, 5b, based on the situation in front of the vehicle captured by the imaging device 2, the operation state of the lamp switch 3, and the amount of rainfall detected by the rainfall sensor 4.

[0012] The control signal generating unit 12 generates a control signal for causing each of the headlamp units 5a, 5b to form irradiation light according to the light distribution pattern set by the irradiation state setting unit 11, and supplies the control signal to each of the headlamp units 5a, 5b.

[0013] The imaging device 2 detects the situation such as the position of a pedestrian based on an image obtained by photographing the space in front of the vehicle, and includes a camera 21 and an image processing unit 22. The camera 21 photographs the space in front of the vehicle and generates image data (image signals). The image processing unit 22 performs image recognition processing on the image data generated by the camera 21, thereby detecting the situation in front of the vehicle such as the position of a pedestrian, the position of a forward vehicle (a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle), and white lines on the road.

[0014] The function of the image processing unit 22 may be provided in the controller 1. In that case, image data is supplied from the imaging device 2 to the controller 1, and the controller 1 executes a predetermined program to perform image recognition processing.

[0015] The lamp switch 3 is disposed in a position near the driver's seat of the vehicle where it can be operated by the driver. The lamp switch 3 is operated by the driver when the driver wishes to emit light from the headlamp units 5a, 5b.

[0016] The rainfall sensor 4 detects the amount of rainfall at the location where the vehicle is located and outputs a signal (or data) indicating a change according to the amount of rainfall. Various known rainfall sensors can be used as the rainfall sensor 4. As one example, a sensor that is installed on the inside of the windshield of the vehicle and detects raindrops adhering to the outer surface of the windshield by an optical method, as described in JP-A-2006-29807, can be used. As another example, the rainfall sensor 4 can be configured to obtain information about the operating status of the wipers from a wiper control device that controls the operation of the wipers of the vehicle based on the output of the above-mentioned sensor.

[0017] The pair of headlamp units 5a, 5b are mounted at predetermined positions on the left and right sides of the front of the vehicle, and operate in response to control signals provided by the controller 1 to form light to be irradiated ahead of the vehicle. The headlamp units 5a, 5b of this embodiment are capable of forming low beam (passing light) and high beam (driving light) illuminations, and also capable of forming an adaptive driving beam (ADB) illumination that is partially dimmed (or turned off) within a range that is arbitrarily set according to the position of the vehicle ahead, etc.

[0018] Various known configurations can be adopted for each headlamp unit 5a, 5b. For example, a high beam or low beam can be formed by a lamp unit configured by combining a light source bulb with a reflector or a shielding plate. An adaptive driving beam can also be formed by using a lamp unit in which light emitting elements such as LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) are arranged in one or two directions and the lighting state of each light emitting element can be individually controlled. An adaptive driving beam can also be formed by using a lamp unit that includes a light source and a liquid crystal element and can individually control the light transmission state of each pixel of the liquid crystal element. An adaptive driving beam can also be formed by using a lamp unit that includes a light emitting element such as a laser diode and a scanning element such as a mirror device that scans the light emitted from the light emitting element and can control the timing of turning on and off the light emitting element and the scanning timing by the scanning element. Furthermore, in the lamp units of these configurations, a high beam or low beam may be formed in addition to the adaptive driving beam.

[0019] Fig. 2(A) is a diagram for explaining light distribution control in the headlamp system of this embodiment. Here, a light distribution pattern formed on a screen assuming that the screen is placed at a predetermined position (e.g., a position several tens of meters ahead) in front of the vehicle is shown typically. In the figure, the light intensity is expressed by the density of the hatching, and the darker the hatching, the stronger the light intensity. In this specification, "light intensity" refers to the degree of brightness of light expressed, for example, by any one of luminous intensity, brightness, and illuminance.

[0020] As shown in the figure, in the headlamp system of this embodiment, the adaptive driving beam ADB is formed relatively above the low beam LB in the vertical direction. When the amount of rainfall reaches a predetermined value or more, the adaptive driving beam ADB includes irradiation light 50 that is biased toward the road shoulder on the left side, which is opposite to the right side, which is the same side as the driver's seat of the vehicle. With this control, when the amount of rainfall is heavy, the amount of light irradiation in the forward direction along the traveling direction of the vehicle is relatively small, thereby improving the visibility of pedestrians 60 and the like on the left side of the road (sidewalk, etc.) while suppressing reflected light and diffused light caused by raindrops.

[0021] Moreover, at this time, the adaptive driving beam ADB is configured to include irradiation lights 51 and 52 for forming a gradual change portion where the vertical height of the irradiation light gradually changes on the side of the irradiation light 50 farther from the roadside (the right side in this example). The irradiation light 51 is formed so that its vertical height is lower than that of the irradiation light 50. Moreover, the irradiation light 52 is formed so that its vertical height is lower than that of the irradiation lights 50 and 51.

[0022] As an example, the irradiated light 51 is formed to have a vertical height that is about 1 / 2 that of the irradiated light 50, and the irradiated light 52 is formed to have a vertical height that is about 1 / 3 that of the irradiated light 50. These irradiated lights 51 and 52 can improve visibility ahead of the vehicle. According to a study conducted through experiments by the inventors of the present application, it has been confirmed that it is more effective to set the width d of the gradually changing portion of the irradiated lights 51 and 52 to a range of more than 0° and not more than 2.5° when expressed as an angle with the vehicle as a reference, for example.

[0023] As in another embodiment shown in FIG. 2B, the light intensity of the irradiated light may be gradually decreased instead of gradually changing the vertical height of the irradiated light in the gradually changing portion. In the illustrated example, the irradiated light 51a formed on the right side of the irradiated light 50 is set to have a lower light intensity than the irradiated light 50, and the irradiated light 52a formed on the right side of the irradiated light 52a is set to have a lower light intensity than the irradiated lights 50 and 51a. The light intensities of the irradiated lights 51a and 52a can be set to 60% and 33%, respectively, when the light intensity of the irradiated light 50 is 100%. This embodiment can also improve the visibility in front of the vehicle. It is preferable that the width d of the gradually changing portion by the irradiated lights 51a and 52a is set in a range of more than 0° and 2.5° or less, as described above.

[0024] Furthermore, the mode in which the height of the irradiated light shown in FIG. 2(A) is gradually changed and the mode in which the light intensity of the irradiated light shown in FIG. 2(B) is gradually changed may be used in combination. That is, the vertical height of the irradiated light may be gradually changed and the light intensity may also be gradually changed. In addition, the gradually changed portion is divided into two ranges to form the irradiated light for each range, but at least one irradiated light may be used, or the irradiated light may be divided into three or more ranges to form the irradiated light for each range. In addition, instead of the mode in which the height and light intensity of the irradiated light are changed stepwise as in the example, the height and light intensity of the irradiated light may be changed continuously.

[0025] 3 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of an embodiment of the controller of the headlamp system. Here, it is assumed that a low beam is formed by each headlamp unit 5a, 5b in response to the operation of the lamp switch 3 and is irradiated in front of the vehicle, and an operation for variably setting the irradiation mode of the adaptive driving beam in response to the amount of rainfall detected by the rainfall sensor 4 will be described. Note that the operation procedure shown in the flowchart shown here is an example, and the processing order of each step may be changed as long as no inconsistency occurs in the operation, and other processing not shown may be added. The same applies to other flowcharts described later.

[0026] The illumination state setting unit 11 of the controller 1 receives a signal indicating the operation state from the lamp switch 3, and if the switch that instructs the operation of the adaptive driving beam based on the signal is turned on (step S11; YES), it sets the illumination state so that the adaptive driving beam is turned on by each of the left and right headlamp units 5a, 5b (step S12).

[0027] In this case, the illumination state setting unit 11 sets a light distribution pattern so as to form an adaptive driving beam that is illumination light that is partially dimmed (or turned off) in a range according to the position of the vehicle ahead detected by the imaging device 2. When the light distribution pattern is set, a control signal is generated by the control signal generating unit 12 based on the light distribution pattern and output to each headlamp unit 5a, 5b, and the adaptive driving beam formed by each headlamp unit 5a, 5b is illuminated ahead of the vehicle.

[0028] Next, if the amount of rainfall determined based on the signal output by the rainfall sensor 4 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (step S13; YES), the illumination state setting unit 11 dims the adaptive driving beam from the headlight unit 5a on the same side as the driver's seat so that it is relatively dark, and sets the illumination state so that the adaptive driving beam from the headlight unit 5b on the opposite side has a narrower illumination range and includes illumination light 50 that is biased toward the shoulder side that is relatively far from the vehicle (step S14).

[0029] The illumination state setting unit 11 also sets a light distribution pattern so that the illumination lights 51, 52 (or 51a, 52a) that form a gradually changing portion are formed on the right side of the illumination light 50 formed by the left headlamp unit 5b (step S15).

[0030] Once the light distribution pattern of the adaptive driving beam is set, a control signal is generated by the control signal generating unit 12 based on that and output to each headlight unit 5a, 5b, and the adaptive driving beam formed by each headlight unit 5a, 5b is irradiated ahead of the vehicle.

[0031] On the other hand, if the amount of rainfall is not equal to or greater than the predetermined value (step S13; NO), the process returns to step S11.

[0032] Here, the predetermined value of the amount of rainfall in step S13 may be set arbitrarily based on experiments, etc., and may be, for example, 20 mm / hour. In addition, the "dimming" of the adaptive driving beam by the headlamp unit 5a on the same side as the driver's seat (right side) may be relatively darker than the adaptive driving beam by the left headlamp unit 5b, and may be, for example, 1 / 10 or less in light intensity, or may be substantially 0 in light intensity. It is preferable that the light intensity is at least 1 / 2 or less than that of the left high beam. These are similar to other embodiments described later.

[0033] Next, the illumination state setting unit 11 receives a signal indicating the operation state from the lamp switch 3, and if the switch instructing the operation of the adaptive driving beam is off based on the signal (step S16; YES), it sets a light distribution pattern so that the adaptive driving beams by the left and right headlamp units 5a, 5b are turned off (step S17). When the light distribution pattern is set, a control signal is generated by the control signal generating unit 12 based on the light distribution pattern and output to each headlamp unit 5a, 5b, and the adaptive driving beams by each headlamp unit 5a, 5b are turned off. Then, the process returns to step S11.

[0034] Similarly, even if the switch for instructing the operation of the adaptive driving beam is off rather than on in step S11 (step S11; NO), the irradiation state is set by the irradiation state setting unit 11, and the adaptive driving beams of the headlamp units 5a and 5b are turned off (step S18). Then, the process returns to step S11.

[0035] On the other hand, in step S16, when the switch instructing the operation of the adaptive driving beam is not turned off (step S16; NO), if the amount of rainfall is less than a predetermined value based on the signal output by the rainfall sensor 4 (step S19; YES), the illumination state setting unit 11 returns to step S11. In this case, if the switch instructing the operation of the adaptive driving beam is on, the left and right adaptive driving beams are turned on (step S12), and if the amount of rainfall continues to be less than a predetermined value (step S13; NO), the illumination of the adaptive driving beam according to the position of the vehicle ahead, etc. is maintained.

[0036] Also, if the amount of rainfall is not less than the predetermined value, that is, if it is equal to or greater than the predetermined value (step S19; NO), the process returns to step S16. In this case, if the switch for instructing the operation of the adaptive driving beam is on, the adaptive driving beam by the headlamp unit 5a is maintained in a dimmed state while the amount of rainfall is equal to or greater than the predetermined value.

[0037] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic view of the illumination of the adaptive driving beam. In this specification, it is assumed that driving on the left side of the road is legally permitted and the driver's seat is installed on the right side of the vehicle. In FIG. 4, the state of the host vehicle 100 traveling in the left lane of a two-lane road is shown in a plan view from above. In the figure, the symbol D shows the position of the driver's seat. The adaptive driving beam is formed by combining the illumination lights formed by the headlamp units 5a and 5b, and is illuminated ahead of the host vehicle 100.

[0038] When the amount of rainfall is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, as shown in the figure, all the light emitted by the headlamp unit 5a is dimmed, so that when the amount of rainfall is heavy, the amount of light emitted ahead of the vehicle's lane is relatively small. In addition, the headlamp unit 5b emits light 50 that is biased toward the road shoulder. As a result, less light is reflected by raindrops, improving the visibility of pedestrians 60 and the like on the side of the road (sidewalk, etc.). In addition, a gradual change portion is formed on the right side of the illuminated light 50, where the height and / or light intensity of the illuminated light gradually changes due to the illuminated lights 51 and 52 (or 51a and 52a), so that visibility ahead of the vehicle is also ensured.

[0039] Fig. 5 is a flow chart showing the operation procedure of another embodiment of the controller of the headlamp system. This embodiment is mostly the same as the embodiment shown in Fig. 3, and differs only in that a process according to the detection result of a pedestrian is added between the processes of steps S16 and S19. Therefore, the following mainly describes the added process, and the other processes are omitted.

[0040] When the switch for instructing the operation of the adaptive driving beam is not turned off (step S16; NO), the illumination state setting unit 11 sets a light distribution pattern so that a narrow-angle adaptive driving beam according to the position of the pedestrian is formed based on the image data output by the imaging device 2 if a pedestrian is detected (step S30; YES). When the light distribution pattern is set, the control signal generating unit 12 generates a control signal based on the light distribution pattern and outputs it to each headlamp unit 5a, 5b, and the adaptive driving beam formed by each headlamp unit 5a, 5b is irradiated in front of the vehicle (step S31). Then, the process proceeds to step S19. On the other hand, when a pedestrian is not detected (step S30; NO), the process returns to step S16.

[0041] After the light irradiation according to the pedestrian is performed, if the amount of rainfall is less than the predetermined value based on the signal output from the rainfall sensor 4 (step S19; YES), the irradiation state setting unit 11 returns to step S11. If the amount of rainfall is not less than the predetermined value, that is, if the amount of rainfall is equal to or greater than the predetermined value (step S19; NO), the irradiation state setting unit 11 returns to step S16.

[0042] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a schematic view of the adaptive driving beam irradiation in step S31. In the example of each figure, the adaptive driving beam formed by the headlamp unit 5a on the same side as the driver's seat position D is dimmed to a state close to a substantially turned off state (it may be completely turned off). On the other hand, the adaptive driving beam formed by the headlamp unit 5b on the opposite side is configured to include the irradiation light 50 formed at a narrow angle according to the position of the pedestrian 60 on the sidewalk on the left side of the vehicle 100 as exemplified in FIG. 6, and the irradiation direction is set variably according to the change in the position of the pedestrian 60. In addition, the adaptive driving beam is configured to include the irradiation light 51, 52 (or 51a, 52a) for forming the gradually changing portion. The irradiation direction of the irradiation light 51, 52 (or 51a, 52a) for forming the gradually changing portion is set variably following the change in the irradiation light 50.

[0043] According to each of the above-described embodiments, it is possible to improve the visibility in front of and to the sides of the vehicle during rainfall.

[0044] The present disclosure is not limited to the contents of the above-mentioned embodiment, and can be implemented in various modifications within the scope of the gist of the present disclosure. For example, in this specification, a headlamp is any lamp that irradiates light forward (and to the sides and surroundings) of a vehicle, and the technical contents of the present disclosure can be applied to various lamps, such as cornering lamps, fog lamps, lamps whose direction is variably set according to the steering angle, and other lamps.

[0045] In addition, in the above embodiment, the amount of rainfall was detected using a rainfall sensor, but information on the amount of rainfall at the current location of the vehicle may also be obtained via wireless communication from an external device (such as a weather information server).

[0046] In addition, in each of the above-described embodiments, the vehicle is assumed to drive on the left side of the road. However, in a case where the vehicle drives on the right side of the road, it goes without saying that the left and right directions in the above-described embodiments can be reversed to perform the control. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 1: controller, 2: imaging device, 3: lamp switch, 4: rainfall sensor, 5a, 5b: headlamp unit, 11: illumination state setting unit, 12: control signal generating unit, 21: camera, 22: image processing unit, 50, 51, 51a, 52, 52a: illumination light, 60: pedestrian, 100: host vehicle

Claims

1. A device for controlling the operation of a first headlight located on the same side as the driver's seat of the vehicle, and a second headlight located on the opposite side from the driver's seat, A controller connected to each of the first and second headlights, which controls the operation of the first and second headlights. Includes, The aforementioned controller, When the amount of rainfall exceeds a predetermined value, the first light emitted by the first headlight is controlled to be relatively dimmer than the second light emitted by the second headlight. The irradiation width of the second irradiation light is controlled to narrow and be biased toward the side opposite to the side where the driver's seat is located. Control the second irradiation light so that at the end on the same side as the driver's seat, a variable reduction portion is provided, which is a portion where the vertical height gradually decreases, or a variable reduction portion is provided, which is a portion where the vertical height gradually decreases and the light intensity gradually decreases. A headlight control device that performs the following actions.

2. The aforementioned controller, When pedestrians are present around the vehicle, the direction of the second beam of light is set to vary according to the position of the pedestrians. A headlight control device according to claim 1, further performing the above.

3. The light intensity and / or vertical height of the second irradiated light change in a stepwise or continuous manner. The headlight control device according to claim 1.

4. The amount of rainfall is detected by a rainfall sensor installed on the vehicle. The headlight control device according to claim 1.

5. The aforementioned rainfall amount is obtained from an external device via wireless communication. The headlight control device according to claim 1.

6. The width of the gradually changing portion of the second irradiation light is set to a range greater than 0° and less than or equal to 2.5° in angle relative to the vehicle itself. The headlight control device according to claim 1.

7. A method for controlling the operation of a first headlight located on the same side as the driver's seat of the vehicle, and a second headlight located on the opposite side from the driver's seat, The controller When the amount of rainfall exceeds a predetermined value, the first light emitted by the first headlight is controlled to be relatively dimmer than the second light emitted by the second headlight. The irradiation width of the second irradiation light is controlled to narrow and be biased toward the side opposite to the side where the driver's seat is located, and Control the second irradiation light so that at the end on the same side as the driver's seat, a variable reduction portion is provided, which is a portion where the vertical height gradually decreases, or a variable reduction portion is provided, which is a portion where the vertical height gradually decreases and the light intensity gradually decreases. A method for controlling the headlights to perform this action.

8. The control device according to claim 1, The first headlight and the second headlight are connected to the control device, A headlight system, including a headlight system.

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