Method and vehicle for operating high beam assist

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for operating the high beam assist of a vehicle (1) equipped with a swivelable headlight (3), wherein the headlight (3) projects a light distribution (2) into the surrounding area. The present invention is characterized by the following method steps: - detecting the area around the vehicle (1) using at least one surrounding sensor of the vehicle (1); - processing sensor data generated by at least one surrounding sensor using a computing unit inside the vehicle to confirm the presence of a convex obstacle at the edge of the road; - if at least one convex obstacle is present, identifying the current location of the vehicle (1), comparing the current location with a digital road map, and determining, by the computing unit, whether the route of the road portion behind the convex obstacle can be read from the digital road map as seen from the vehicle (1); and, if it can be read, controlling, by the computing unit, at least the headlight (3) closer to the convex obstacle, to ○ reduce the brightness of the emitted light distribution (2), ○ to rotate the light distribution (2) vertically downward, and / or ○ to rotate the light distribution (2) horizontally away from the convex obstacle.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for operating a high beam assist of a host vehicle equipped with a rotatable headlight of the type as defined in detail in the preamble of claim 1, and a vehicle of the type as defined in detail in the preamble of claim 11.

Background Art

[0002] Compared with low beam, high beam enables better illumination of the surroundings of the vehicle, so that the vehicle driver can better perceive surrounding objects and the road. However, using high beam poses a risk of dazzling other road users or oncoming vehicles driving ahead. Therefore, in such situations, the vehicle driver needs to "switch to low beam (abblenden)".

[0003] Using high beam assist can enhance the comfort of the vehicle driver and reduce the risk of forgetting to switch to low beam. Such high beam assist is based on detecting road users using ambient sensors and controlling the vehicle headlights so that the area where road users are present is excluded from the high beam in the light distribution projected around by the vehicle headlights. For this purpose, for example, the movable headlights can be rotated or the individual pixels of the matrix headlights can be accurately dimmed.

[0004] For the high beam assist to function correctly, it is necessary to reliably detect road users. Since the visibility conditions are poor in the dark, it is particularly difficult for camera-based sensor systems to recognize and classify vehicles that are far away based on their images. Therefore, in the camera image, vehicle lamps such as the rear lamp, position lamp or front headlight of other road user vehicles that may be present are accurately searched for, and the presence of road users is inferred when such lamps are detected.

[0005] Road routes often have curves, which can lead to situations where protruding obstacles such as guardrails, green spaces, and concrete boundaries obscure the headlights of other road users, particularly oncoming vehicles or vehicles traveling far ahead. In such cases, high beam assist may not be able to correctly recognize the corresponding road user and therefore cannot switch to low beam. This increases the risk of dazzling other road users.

[0006] Patent Document 1 provides a method for operating a driver information system in a vehicle and a driver information system itself. The driver information system described in this document enables the detection of the vehicle's surroundings and their realistic display on the vehicle's display. In particular, it can determine the radius of curvature of a curve ahead and apply this to the display of the corresponding roadway. Furthermore, it can detect and classify boundary markings such as road markings or guardrails and display them correctly on the display. In this case, the surrounding data generated by the sensors can be merged with map data. The operation of high beam assist is not the subject of this document.

[0007] Furthermore, Patent Document 2 discloses control of the illumination range of an automobile's headlights. This document describes predictive control of the headlight illumination range. In this case, the road path is detected, and the headlight beam is raised when approaching a concave road surface, lowered when approaching a convex road surface, and tilted into the curve when approaching a curve. This differs from headlight adjustment linked to the steering wheel position, and allows for early illumination of curves. In this case, the road path can be recognized by evaluating sensor data generated by surrounding sensors. For this purpose, road markings or road boundaries can be taken into consideration. Furthermore, the road path is validated based on light recognized in the camera image, such as reflections from directional signs or lamps of road users.

[0008] Furthermore, Patent Document 3 discloses an apparatus and method for adjusting vehicle lighting on curves with poor visibility. In the first step, a curve located ahead of the vehicle is recognized. Next, the visibility of the curve is determined. If visibility is good, the lighting is adjusted to increase its intensity; otherwise, it is adjusted to reduce glare. To determine visibility, data from a navigation system and / or camera system database may be considered.

[0009] Furthermore, Patent Document 4 discloses a method for operating a vehicle's headlights and high-beam assist system. This method aims to determine a section of road in front of the vehicle where there is a high risk of encountering surrounding vehicles that were not previously in the vehicle's field of vision. This section of road is classified as dangerous and monitored for any signs that surrounding vehicles may soon come into view. If such signs appear, the high-beam function is controlled.

[0010] Furthermore, Patent Document 5 discloses a method and control device for setting at least one parameter of a vehicle driver assistance system. In this case, occlusion data representing the characteristics of an occlusion object located next to an occlusion roadway is read. Subsequently, the vehicle's visibility distance due to the occlusion is determined. Then, at least one parameter is adapted according to the visibility distance due to the occlusion. This makes it possible to temporarily delay switching to high beams (Aufblenden) when the vehicle's visibility distance is reduced due to an object being close to the edge of the road. Furthermore, Patent Document 6 discloses a vehicle lighting system and a method for controlling the lighting system. To this end, the vehicle can direct the light emitted from its headlights into a curve located ahead. The curve path can be determined using a navigation system or by analyzing the steering wheel angle. If an object in front of the vehicle is detected using a camera system, the direction of the headlights is adjusted so that the object is excluded from the illumination. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0011] [Patent Document 1] DE102019202592A1 [Patent Document 2] DE102006016071A1 [Patent Document 3] DE102010040650A1 [Patent Document 4] DE102018215666A1 [Patent Document 5] DE102014225517A1 [Patent Document 6] KR1020140055363A [Overview of the Initiative] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0012] The present invention is based on the problem of providing an improved method for operating the high beam assist of a vehicle equipped with swivelable headlights, which enables particularly reliable operation of the high beam assist. Advantageous embodiments and developments, as well as corresponding vehicles for carrying out the method, will become apparent from the dependent claims. [Means for solving the problem]

[0013] A method for activating the high beam assist of a vehicle equipped with swivelable headlights, wherein the headlights project light distribution into the surrounding area, according to the present invention, comprises the following method steps, namely, - A step of detecting the area around the vehicle using at least one of the vehicle's surrounding sensors, - A process of processing sensor data generated by at least one ambient sensor using a computing unit inside the vehicle in order to confirm the presence of a convex obstacle at the edge of the road, -If at least one convex obstacle is present, the process involves identifying the current location of the vehicle, comparing the current location with a digital road map, and determining whether the calculation unit can view the convex obstacle from the vehicle and read the route of the road portion behind the convex obstacle from the digital road map, and if it can be read, -The calculation unit determines at least the headlight (3) that is closer to the convex obstacle, -In order to reduce the brightness of the emitted light distribution, - To rotate the beam distribution vertically downwards, and / or -In order to rotate the beam horizontally away from the convex obstacle, It is improved through controlled processes.

[0014] Therefore, the method according to the present invention, in situations where the lamps of a vehicle traveling ahead or an oncoming vehicle may be obstructed by a convex obstacle such as a guardrail, green belt, or concrete wall on a curve, assumes the presence of road users in the portion of the road extending behind the convex obstacle, thereby making it possible to avoid projecting high beams onto this portion of the road. This reduces the risk of dazzling other road users, or even completely prevents dazzling other road users.

[0015] Typically, a vehicle has two swivelable headlights. Generally, a vehicle may have more swivelable headlights. The light emitted from such headlights can be precisely directed toward the surroundings. The entire headlight, or only parts of the headlight such as the reflector, lens, diffuser, or cover plate, can be moved by one or more actuators. For example, the corresponding light beam can be precisely moved, or the cover plate can be swiveled within the light beam, thereby darkening a specific area of ​​the light beam. The cover plate can be completely opaque to light, or it can have a transmittance of 0% to 99%.

[0016] The method according to the invention describes the operation of high beam assist. However, the light distribution does not necessarily have to be high beam. In general, the light distribution can also be low beam, parking light, or other lights.

[0017] Peripheral detection can be carried out using various ambient sensors such as cameras, laser scanners such as LiDAR, radar sensors, ultrasonic sensors, etc. Such a sensor system enables the acquisition of depth information, thereby enabling the recognition of convex obstacles based on geometric features. The evaluation of camera images enables the classification of static and dynamic surrounding objects based on characteristic image features.

[0018] To determine the current location, the host vehicle has location determination means such as a navigation system. The navigation system can evaluate signals from global navigation satellites based on, for example, GPS, Galileo, Beidou, etc. to determine the geographical location. The vehicle can carry, for example, a digital road map stored in a database included in a computing unit. However, the host vehicle can also wirelessly access a central computing device such as a cloud server of the vehicle manufacturer or map service provider using a communication unit, and thereby read the digital road map as necessary. The host vehicle, i.e., the computing unit, collates the current location with the digital road map. In that case, the orientation of the host vehicle is automatically taken into account based on the driving direction in each section, whereby the computing unit can easily check whether there is a road section corresponding to the rear of the convex obstacle. This is particularly applicable to roads with many curves or twists.

[0019] " In that case, the computing unit can identify how the headlights need to be controlled in order to darken the area of the light distribution that hits the road section located behind the convex obstacle by collating the orientation of the vehicle, the arrangement of the swiveling headlights on the vehicle, the path of the convex obstacle, and the corresponding geometric information of the road section located behind it.

[0020] This ensures that, in particular, other road users who are more than 150 meters away from the host vehicle are not dazzled.

[0021] Thereby, by using the method according to the invention, even vehicles not equipped with matrix headlights or pixel headlights can operate without dazzling in high beam assist. Thus, the swiveling headlights are neither matrix headlights nor pixel headlights. The convex obstacle may be located at the edge of the road on the right or left side as seen from the host vehicle. Thus, the headlight closer to the convex obstacle is the headlight on the right or left side of the host vehicle.

[0022] In that case, the brightness of the emitted light distribution can be reduced to any value between 0% and 100% of the original brightness of the light distribution.

[0023] An advantageous development of the method according to the invention contemplates that the computing unit, when collating the current position of the host vehicle with the digital road map, considers only the road section within a maximum lateral distance of 30 m from the convex obstacle as being behind the convex obstacle. Since the brightness per unit area of the light distribution, better known as the light beam density, decreases as the distance from the headlight increases, the dazzle risk decreases correspondingly as the separation distance from the host vehicle increases. Thus, advantageously, the method according to the invention is only carried out for the road section at a certain distance behind the convex obstacle. In that case, it has been found that a lateral distance of 30 m is particularly advantageous. In this case, the "lateral distance" means the distance extending in the orthogonal direction from the corresponding curve element when searching for the corresponding road section in the digital road map. This is a simple and reliable way to check whether there is a road path that could lead to a dazzle risk for other road users.

[0024] Furthermore, this makes it possible to particularly easily darken the light distribution in the range projected onto the oncoming lane behind the structural separation, for example on a highway or an automobile-only road having a guardrail between two driving directions.

[0025] According to another advantageous embodiment of the method according to the present invention, the computing unit evaluates sensor data to determine the height of surrounding objects and classifies only surrounding objects whose upper ends are at a geodetic height in the range of 30 cm to 120 cm as convex obstacles. When surrounding objects extend to a height in the range of 30 cm to 120 cm, the surrounding objects are located at a typical height where vehicle lamps are mounted. Therefore, such surrounding objects pose a high risk of obscuring vehicle lamps that may be present in the road portion behind the convex obstacle. Thus, particularly advantageously, such surrounding objects are classified as convex obstacles. Optionally, additionally, camera image evaluation can be performed to classify surrounding objects. Using proven image recognition algorithms, characteristic features can be recognized in the camera image, thereby recognizing, for example, whether a convex obstacle is a guardrail, green belt, concrete block, barrier tape, etc. This enables more reliable recognition and classification of convex obstacles.

[0026] Another advantageous embodiment of the method according to the present invention further intends for the calculation unit to register the recognized convex obstacles in a digital road map. Thus, information on existing convex obstacles is aggregated and advantageously incorporated into the digital road map for later use. This can be used, for example, to improve the reliability of the method according to the present invention. There may be a risk that individual vehicles may not correctly detect, i.e., overlook, convex obstacles. In that case, when performing the method according to the present invention, the calculation unit can read the presence of convex obstacles from the digital road map in addition to the road route, so that even if convex obstacles are overlooked by purely sensor-based detection, the presence of convex obstacles can be inferred.

[0027] Digital road maps can register various information representing convex obstacles, saving at least the location or path of these obstacles. Additionally, dimensions such as height, width, and / or depth, as well as their spacing from one another, can be saved. Classifications of convex obstacles, such as "guardrails" or "green belts," can also be saved. Timestamps, including the date and / or time, can also be saved, allowing the digital road map to track when and how frequently corresponding convex obstacles were detected. This enables the recognition of temporary convex obstacles, and their removal from the digital road map if they are not detected again within a specified time.

[0028] According to another advantageous embodiment of the method according to the present invention, the computing unit identifies the curve radius of a section with a convex obstacle and designs the degree of brightness reduction and / or turning angle of the light distribution emitted by the headlights according to the curve radius, so that in sharp curves the brightness is reduced more and / or the light distribution is turned more sharply than in larger curves. The curve radius can be determined from a digital road map or, alternatively or additionally, determined by evaluating sensor data. When a road route has a sharp curve, this means that road users who may be obscured by the convex obstacle and are located behind the curve are located closer to the vehicle than in the case of a larger curve. Therefore, it is advantageous to make the light distribution darker or turn more sharply away from the convex obstacle in sharp curves. This can further reliably reduce the risk of dazzling other road users.

[0029] In the case of a convex obstacle that extends continuously along the road on which the vehicle is traveling, a "section" is understood to be any portion of the road of any length, particularly in the vicinity relatively close to the vehicle, for example, within 5m, 10m, 50m, or 100m immediately in front of the vehicle, or fractions or multiples thereof.

[0030] Preferably, the beam pattern of the headlight closest to the convex obstacle is dimmed in the curve radius range of 500m to 1200m, with the brightness of the beam pattern being 100% when the curve radius exceeds 1200m and 0% when the curve radius is less than 500m. That is, when the curve radius exceeds 1200m, the beam pattern is not dimmed. When the curve radius is less than 500m, the beam pattern, and therefore each headlight, is deactivated. As already mentioned, when the curve radius is large, other road users located behind the curve are further away from the vehicle than when the curve radius is small. In particular, when the curve radius is 1200m, road users located behind the curve that may be obscured by the convex obstacle are far enough away from the vehicle that there is no risk of dazzling other road users with the beam pattern in any case. Therefore, there is no need to dim or move the beam pattern away.

[0031] In contrast, when the curve radius is less than 500m, road users who may be located behind the curve and obscured by a convex obstacle are very close to the vehicle, so the projection of light from the headlights into the surroundings is turned off to ensure that glare is not caused.

[0032] Light distribution attenuation within the curve radius range of 500m to 1200m can be performed arbitrarily. In the simplest embodiment, continuous and linear attenuation is performed. However, attenuation can also be performed gradually, either increasing or decreasing, according to, for example, a quadratic or logarithmic function. Discrete, i.e., stepped attenuation is also possible.

[0033] Similarly, it is possible to rotate one or more headlights depending on the curve radius in the range of 500m to 1200m.

[0034] According to another advantageous embodiment of the method according to the present invention, the beam pattern of the headlight closest to the convex obstacle is lowered by 0.3 degrees. Lowering the beam pattern by 0.3 degrees ensures that the headlight does not illuminate convex obstacles at typical heights, particularly those with upper edges at geodetic heights in the range of 30 cm to 120 cm. This reduces the risk of dazzling other road users in particular.

[0035] Another advantageous embodiment of the method according to the present invention further intends for the computing unit to control the headlight furthest from the convex obstacle to rotate the light characteristics emitted by the headlight vertically upward, particularly by 0.3 degrees. By rotating the light characteristics of the headlight positioned furthest from the convex obstacle upward, a larger surrounding area can be illuminated. This allows the driver of the vehicle to more reliably perceive surrounding objects even in darkness, which enables safer driving of the vehicle. In this case, a rotation angle of 0.3 degrees has been found to be particularly advantageous. With a rotation angle of 0.3 degrees upward, it is ensured that sufficient light is still projected onto the roadway through which the vehicle is traveling, even though the light distribution is directed upward. This upward rotation of the headlight is possible without danger, as there is no risk of dazzling road users located behind the convex obstacle due to the light characteristics emitted from the headlight positioned furthest from the convex obstacle.

[0036] According to another advantageous embodiment of the method according to the present invention, a computing unit processes sensor data to detect a vehicle in the vicinity of the vehicle, and the computing unit controls the headlights to rotate the light distribution projected outwards by at least one headlight away from the area where the detected vehicle is located.

[0037] This also makes it possible to exclude road users who emerge from the road behind the convex obstacle and enter the vehicle's field of view from the light distribution. In other words, this reduces the risk of dazzling other road users who were previously obscured by the convex obstacle but then enter the vehicle's field of view, either because an oncoming vehicle is approaching the vehicle or because the vehicle is catching up to road users traveling further ahead at a relatively high speed.

[0038] In that case, vehicle detection around the vehicle can be done using proven methods based on geometric features and / or image recognition techniques, for example.

[0039] Another advantageous embodiment of the method according to the present invention involves a calculation unit reading the path of a convex obstacle from a digital road map along at least one section that will be next located ahead of the vehicle, determining the distance between two consecutive convex obstacles, comparing the distance to a specified permissible distance, and if the distance between the two convex obstacles is less than the permissible distance, further attempting to prevent dimming and / or turning of at least the headlight closer to the convex obstacle while driving along the section located between the two convex obstacles.

[0040] This prevents the optical characteristics from constantly switching on and off or rotating when driving along discontinuous convex obstacles. In other words, this can be a hindrance to the vehicle driver and therefore endanger safe driving. In such cases, the permissible distance can take any fixed value, such as 50 cm, 1 m, 10 m, or fractions or multiples thereof.

[0041] Additionally or alternatively, it is possible to detect interruptions between adjacent convex obstacles by evaluating sensor data. However, this is only possible up to a limited distance in front of the vehicle, depending on the curvature of the road path on the curve, whether it is a right curve in right-hand traffic or a left curve in left-hand traffic. Therefore, it is advantageous to read the distance between convex obstacles from a digital road map.

[0042] A vehicle comprising at least one ambient sensor, a swivel headlight, a positioning means, and a computing unit, wherein, according to the present invention, at least one ambient sensor, a swivel headlight, a positioning means, and a computing unit are configured to perform the method described above. The vehicle can be any vehicle such as a passenger car, a cargo van, a transporter, or a bus. The computing unit can also be comprised of a single computer system or a plurality of distributed computer systems that are communicatively coupled to one another. Such a computer system or computing unit can be, for example, a central onboard computer or a control device for a vehicle subsystem.

[0043] Other advantageous embodiments of the method and vehicle according to the present invention for operating the high beam assist are also evident from the exemplary embodiments described below in detail with reference to the figures. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0044] [Figure 1] This is a schematic plan view of a vehicle according to the present invention that performs a method for operating a high beam assist according to the present invention, in which the light distribution projected into the surroundings by the vehicle is darkened. [Figure 2] This is a schematic plan view of a vehicle according to the present invention, which rotates the light distribution to the side. [Figure 3] This is a schematic plan view of a vehicle according to the present invention, which rotates the light distribution downwards. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0045] Figure 1 shows a vehicle according to the present invention, which will be referred to as "Vehicle 1" below. Vehicle 1 travels along a road 4. In this case, the road 4 can have any number of lanes, but it is not necessarily required that there be oncoming lanes. Vehicle 1 is equipped with swivelable headlights 3 for projecting a light distribution 2 around it. In the illustrated embodiment, Vehicle 1 is equipped with a left-side swivelable headlight 3L and a right-side swivelable headlight 3R. Generally, there is a risk that the light distribution 2 may dazzle other road users.

[0046] Conventional high-beam assist systems can recognize other road users and control a swivelable headlight 3 to move the light distribution 2 emitted by the headlight 3 away from the recognized road users. Such systems may reach their limits, especially at night, because, for example, other road users far from the vehicle 1 may not be sufficiently illuminated and difficult to recognize in the camera image. Therefore, the camera image typically searches for vehicle lights such as taillights, front headlights, and position lights, making it possible to recognize the presence of other road users even if the actual image of the vehicle cannot be recognized.

[0047] There may be protruding obstacles at the edge of the road, such as guardrails, which may obstruct the field of view from the vehicle 1 to the corresponding vehicle lamp. In such cases, there is a risk that the high beam assist will not recognize other road users, and as a result, the light distribution 2 will not be moved away in the corresponding area. Therefore, there is a risk of dazzling other road users. By using the method according to the present invention, this risk can be mitigated or even completely prevented from dazzling other road users.

[0048] To this end, the vehicle 1 uses at least one ambient sensor to detect its surroundings. Sensor data generated by at least one ambient sensor is processed by a computing unit inside the vehicle to detect the presence of the aforementioned convex obstacle at the edge of the road. In this case, the left and right edges of the road can be monitored. If a corresponding convex obstacle is present, the computing unit identifies the current location of the vehicle 1, compares it with a digital road map, and determines whether the path of the road portion behind the convex obstacle is recognized on the digital road map from the perspective of the vehicle 1. If recognized, the computing unit controls the swivelable headlight 3 of the vehicle 1 to dim the light distribution 2, swivel it to the side, and / or swivel it downwards. In this case, the brightness of the light distribution 2 can be reduced to, for example, 20% of the standard brightness compared to the rest of the light distribution.

[0049] In other words, the calculation unit assumes that there are generally other road users in the section of the road located behind the convex obstacle, and as a precaution, the corresponding area of ​​light distribution 2 is excluded. This reduces the risk of glare.

[0050] In that case, Figure 1a) shows the projection of the unchanging light distribution 2 into the surrounding area. Figure 1b) shows an example where the light characteristics 2 of the headlight 3R closer to the convex obstacle are dimmed, indicated by narrow hatching, in order to reduce the risk of glare to other road users who may be located behind the convex obstacle on a curve.

[0051] Figures 2 and 3 also show an initial example of the light distribution 2 that does not change in the lower figure a). In Figure 2b), the light distribution 2 radiated outwards from the headlight 3R closer to the convex obstacle is rotated horizontally toward the direction away from the convex obstacle, as indicated by the curved arrow.

[0052] In Figure 3b), the beam pattern 2 projected by the corresponding headlight 3R is swung vertically downwards, as indicated by the curved arrow. This reduces the distance to which the beam pattern 2 is projected, resulting in the road portion behind the convex obstacle being completely unlit. Optionally, the beam pattern 2 projected by the other headlight 3L, i.e., the headlight 3 further from the convex obstacle, can be swung vertically upwards, thereby increasing its reach. This allows the driver to more reliably recognize surrounding objects even in darkness, as the surroundings are better illuminated.

[0053] However, it is preferable that this be permitted only if the light distribution 2 projected outwards by the headlight 3L positioned farther from the convex obstacle does not hit the road portion located behind the convex obstacle. This applies to the case of right-hand traffic on a pure right curve. However, in Figure 3, the road path initially has a left curve, and therefore, there is no inherent need to raise the light distribution 2 here. In other words, this figure is used for explanatory purposes to draw attention to this special case.

[0054] The exemplary embodiments shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3 can be combined in any way.

[0055] For example, in a roadway with structural separation, a convex obstacle may be located on both the right and left sides of the roadway from the perspective of the vehicle 1. For example, a guardrail may extend to the right of the shoulder, creating a structural separation between the vehicle's lane and the oncoming lane. In this case, both headlights 3 of the vehicle are the ones closer to the convex obstacle, which can cause both the left headlight 3L and the right headlight 3R to dim, rotate towards the center of the roadway, and / or rotate vertically downwards.

[0056] The exemplary embodiments shown in Figures 1 to 3 all involve right-hand traffic. The method according to the present invention can be similarly applied to left-hand traffic situations.

Claims

1. A method for operating the high beam assist of a vehicle (1) equipped with a swivelable headlight (3), wherein the headlight (3) projects a light distribution (2) to the surroundings, The following method steps, namely, - A step of detecting the area around the vehicle using at least one surrounding sensor of the vehicle (1), - A step of processing sensor data generated by at least one surrounding sensor using a calculation unit inside the vehicle in order to confirm the presence of a convex obstacle at the edge of the road, - If at least one convex obstacle is present, the steps include: identifying the current location of the vehicle (1); comparing the current location with a digital road map; and determining whether the calculation unit can read the route of the road portion behind the convex obstacle from the digital road map, as viewed from the vehicle (1); and if it can be read, - The calculation unit determines that at least the headlight (3) closest to the convex obstacle is ○In order to reduce the brightness of the emitted light distribution (2), ○To rotate the light distribution (2) vertically downward, and / or ○In order to rotate the light distribution (2) horizontally away from the convex obstacle, The control process, The method characterized by the above.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that when the calculation unit compares the current location of the vehicle (1) with the digital road map, it considers only the portion of the road that is within a maximum lateral distance of 30 meters from the convex obstacle as being located behind the convex obstacle.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the calculation unit evaluates the sensor data to determine the height of surrounding objects and classifies only surrounding objects whose upper ends are in the geodetic height range of 30 cm to 120 cm as convex obstacles.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the calculation unit registers the recognized convex obstacles in the digital road map.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the calculation unit identifies the curve radius of the section having the convex obstacle, designs the degree of brightness reduction and / or rotation angle of the light distribution (2) emitted by the headlights (3L, 3R) according to the curve radius, and in sharp curves, reduces the brightness more and / or rotates the light distribution (2) more than in larger curves.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that the light distribution (2) of the headlight (3) closer to the convex obstacle is dimmed in a curve radius range of 500 meters to 1200 meters, and the brightness of the light distribution (2) is 100% when the curve radius exceeds 1200 meters and 0% when the curve radius is less than 500 meters.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the light distribution (2) of the headlight (3) closer to the convex obstacle is lowered by 0.3°.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the calculation unit controls the headlight (3) that is furthest from the convex obstacle to rotate the light characteristics (2) emitted by the headlight (3) vertically upward, particularly by 0.3°.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the calculation unit processes the sensor data to detect vehicles around the vehicle, and the calculation unit controls the headlights (3) to rotate the light distribution (2) projected outwards by at least one headlight (3L, 3R) away from the area where the detected vehicle is located.

10. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 9, characterized in that the calculation unit reads the path of a convex obstacle from the digital road map along at least one section located next in front of the vehicle (1), identifies the distance between two consecutive convex obstacles, compares the distance with a specified allowable distance, and if the distance between the two convex obstacles is smaller than the allowable distance, prevents dimming and / or turning of at least the headlight (3) closer to the convex obstacle while driving along the section located between the two convex obstacles.

11. A vehicle comprising at least one ambient sensor, a swivelable headlight (3), a positioning means, and a computing unit, The vehicle is characterized in that the at least one ambient sensor, the swivelable headlight (3), the positioning means, and the calculation unit are configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

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