Leveling angle data collection system, leveling angle adjustment data providing system, and leveling angle adjustment system

Abstract

To provide a leveling angle data collection system which collects data used when calculating leveling angle adjustment data used in a leveling angle adjustment system capable of emitting light of a headlight to a region where light is desired to be emitted when traveling on a rugged road surface.SOLUTION: A leveling angle data collection system includes: a position specification part for specifying positional information of a current place of a vehicle; an actual leveling angle detection part for detecting an actual leveling angle of a headlight for a vehicle, a target leveling angle calculation part for calculating a target leveling angle according to a road surface angle; and a history registration part for registering the actual leveling angle, the target leveling angle and the positional information acquired when the vehicle travels in leveling angle history database.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a leveling angle data collecting system, a leveling angle adjustment data providing system, and a leveling angle adjustment system. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art A vehicle headlamp capable of adjusting a leveling angle is known from Patent Document 1 and the like. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-98970 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, when a vehicle is traveling on a road with rough terrain, the target leveling angle fluctuates quickly and significantly, so even with headlights that have adjustable leveling angles, it is difficult to adjust the leveling angle so that the headlight light is directed to the desired area.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention provides a leveling angle adjustment system that can illuminate the headlight light to the desired area even when driving on rough roads, a leveling angle adjustment data system that provides leveling angle adjustment data used in this leveling angle adjustment system, and a leveling angle data collection system that collects data used when calculating the leveling angle adjustment data. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A leveling angle data collection system according to one aspect of the present invention comprises: a location identification unit that identifies location information of a current location of a vehicle; an actual leveling angle detection unit that detects a leveling angle of a vehicle headlamp as an actual leveling angle; a target leveling angle calculation unit that calculates a target leveling angle according to a road surface angle; a history registration unit that registers the actual leveling angle, the target leveling angle, and the position information acquired while the vehicle is traveling in a leveling angle history database; has.

[0007] A leveling angle adjustment data providing system according to one aspect of the present invention includes: The device has an adjustment point identification unit that identifies, from a leveling angle history database in which position information indicating a certain position, an actual leveling angle which is the leveling angle of the headlights at the position, and a target leveling angle calculated according to the road surface angle at the position are associated and recorded, a position where the target leveling angle and the actual leveling angle differ by a predetermined value or more as an adjustment point.

[0008] A leveling angle adjustment system according to one aspect of the present invention comprises: A leveling angle adjustment system for adjusting a leveling angle of a headlamp mounted on a vehicle, comprising: The headlamp includes a leveling adjustment unit that adjusts the leveling angle; a location identification unit that identifies location information of a current location of the vehicle; Position information of an adjustment point where the leveling angle needs to be adjusted, a target leveling angle determined according to a road surface angle of the adjustment point, and a time from when the vehicle passes the adjustment point are determined. an adjustment data reading unit which reads out the position information of the adjustment point, the target leveling angle, and the forward-tilt amount from an adjustment database in which the position information, the target leveling angle, and the forward-tilt amount are recorded in association with each other, the forward-tilt amount being either a first forward-tilt time indicating how far in front of the adjustment point the leveling adjustment unit should be operated or a first forward-tilt distance indicating how far in front of the adjustment point the vehicle should pass before the adjustment point; a leveling control unit that operates the leveling adjustment unit in accordance with the target leveling angle, The leveling control unit causes the leveling control unit to operate the leveling adjustment unit when the vehicle reaches the adjustment point within the first advance time or when the vehicle reaches a point the first advance distance before the adjustment point, based on the position information acquired by the position identification unit. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, there is provided a leveling angle adjustment system that can illuminate the headlight light to the desired area even when driving on a road with rough terrain, a leveling angle adjustment data system that provides leveling angle adjustment data used in this leveling angle adjustment system, and a leveling angle data collection system that collects data used when calculating the leveling angle adjustment data. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a target leveling angle and an actual leveling angle when traveling on a road surface whose angle changes greatly. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a data collection system and a data providing system. [Diagram 3] The image shown is captured by the camera when the vehicle is on a flat road ahead. [Figure 4] The image shown is captured by the camera when the road surface in front of the vehicle changes from flat to uphill. [Diagram 5] 1 shows an example of a leveling angle history database. [Figure 6] 1 shows an example of an adjustment database. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a leveling angle adjustment system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings based on the embodiments. The same or equivalent components, parts, and processes shown in each drawing are given the same reference numerals, and duplicated descriptions are omitted as appropriate. In addition, the embodiments are not intended to limit the invention, but are merely examples, and all features and combinations thereof described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the invention.

[0012] The present invention relates to a leveling angle data collection system 1, a leveling angle adjustment data providing system 50, and a leveling angle adjustment system 100. First, the leveling angle data collection system 1 and the leveling angle adjustment data providing system 50 will be described. Then, the leveling angle adjustment system 100 will be described.

[0013] <Leveling angle data collection system 1> A leveling angle data collection system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below. Fig. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a target leveling angle and an actual leveling angle when traveling on a road surface whose angle changes greatly.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 1(a), when a vehicle V is traveling on a flat road, the headlamp leveling angle is set so that the center point of the light distribution pattern (point O where line H and line V intersect) (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as the illumination reference point) is located, for example, 70 m ahead of the vehicle V. The headlamp leveling angle (shown by line H2 in Figure 1) is tilted downward by about 0.5 degrees with respect to the horizontal direction (shown by line H1 in Figure 1). In the following explanation, this angle tilted downward by 0.5 degrees with respect to the horizontal direction while traveling on a flat road will be called the headlamp reference leveling angle. In the following explanation, the headlamp leveling angle will be expressed as an angle deviated from this reference leveling angle. Note that this reference leveling angle varies depending on the mounting height of the headlamp on the vehicle V, regulations, etc. 0.5 degrees is merely a number used for the sake of concrete explanation.

[0015] Basically, the headlamp leveling angle is set to an angle according to the angle of the road surface on which the vehicle V is traveling. For example, if the road surface ahead of the vehicle is downward as shown in Figure 1 (road surface angle is negative), the illumination reference point will be located farther than 70 m ahead of the vehicle V if the standard leveling angle is used. Therefore, the leveling angle is tilted downward from the standard leveling angle as shown by line H3, so that the illumination reference point is located 70 m ahead of the vehicle V.

[0016] However, it may take time from when the leveling adjustment unit provided in the headlight starts operating until the leveling angle reaches the target value (target leveling angle). For example, when the leveling adjustment unit is composed of a motor, it may take about 0.1 to 0.5 seconds from when the target leveling angle is calculated until the leveling angle actually becomes the target leveling angle. Alternatively, the light source of the headlight may be composed of multiple LEDs, and the leveling angle may be controlled in a pseudo manner by controlling the turning on and off of each LED. In this case, too, it may take about 0.01 to 0.1 seconds from when the target leveling angle is calculated until the leveling angle actually becomes the target leveling angle.

[0017] For this reason, when passing over a road surface where the angle changes greatly, the target leveling angle is significantly different from the immediately preceding leveling angle, so it may take some time from when the target leveling angle is calculated until the leveling angle actually becomes the target leveling angle. For this reason, when passing over a road surface where the angle changes greatly, even if the leveling adjustment unit is operated at the point (c) in Figure 1, a problem occurs in which the headlight light is not irradiated on the area to be viewed.

[0018] The leveling angle adjustment system 100 (hereinafter referred to as the adjustment system 100) according to this embodiment described below is a system that advances the start time for adjusting the leveling angle to the target leveling angle, thereby irradiating the headlight light onto the area that is to be viewed even when passing over a road surface where the angle changes greatly. Further, the leveling angle adjustment data providing system 50 according to this embodiment (hereinafter referred to as the data providing system 50) is a system that provides data used in this leveling angle adjustment system 100. Furthermore, the leveling angle data collection system 1 according to this embodiment (hereinafter referred to as the data collection system 1) is a system that collects data that is the basis of the data created by this leveling angle adjustment data providing system 50. Each system will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6.

[0019] <Leveling angle adjustment data provision system 50> Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the data collection system 1 and the data provision system 50. As shown in Fig. 2, the data collection system 1 includes a position identification unit 2, an actual leveling angle detection unit 3, a road surface angle identification unit 4, a target leveling angle calculation unit 5, and a history registration unit 6. The data collection system 1 is mounted on, for example, a vehicle V equipped with a headlamp. The position identifying unit 2 identifies and outputs position information of the current location of the vehicle V. The position identifying unit 2 outputs information including, for example, north latitude and east longitude. The position identifying unit 2 can be configured, for example, with a GPS (Global Positioning System) or the like.

[0020] The actual leveling angle detection unit 3 detects and outputs the actual leveling angle currently set by the leveling adjustment unit of the headlamp from the leveling adjustment unit of the headlamp. For example, if the headlamp is equipped with an actuator that supports a base on which the light source unit of the headlamp is mounted so that the tilt angle can be adjusted relative to the housing, as a leveling mechanism, a control circuit or a sensor that detects the stroke amount of the actuator can be configured as the actual leveling angle detection unit 3.

[0021] The road surface angle identifying unit 4 identifies the road surface angle in front of the vehicle. The road surface angle identifying unit 4 can be configured, for example, by a camera that captures an image in front of the vehicle, and an image processing unit that analyzes the image output from the camera. Here, an example of identifying the road surface angle using a vanishing point P in an image acquired by the camera will be described with reference to FIG. 3. The image processing unit can be configured, for example, by a processor such as a lamp ECU or a vehicle ECU. The road surface angle identification unit 4 may identify the inclination angle of the road surface ahead of the vehicle from a 3D image created by a LiDAR sensor system. Alternatively, the inclination angle may be directly referenced from high-precision 3D map data for autonomous driving applications, or the inclination angle may be estimated by data analysis.

[0022] In this specification, a processor includes a general-purpose or special-purpose data processing device, such as an ASIC (specific integrated circuit), an FPGA (field programmable gate array), a general-purpose CPU (central processing unit), or other hardware suitable for executing applications or logic recorded on a recording device. A storage device includes any temporary or persistent computer-readable storage device, either alone or in combination with a computer-readable medium. For example, a storage device may include magnetic, optical, or electrical storage devices, such as random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or any combination of physical, optical, or electrical means. A storage device is a device that stores logic executed by a processor, such as a computer program or application. The computer program is provided to a hardware processor, such as a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device, and is executed by the computer's processor or other programmable data processing device to cause the machine to generate means for performing specified functions or actions.

[0023] Fig. 3 shows an image captured by the camera when a flat road continues ahead of the vehicle. As shown in Fig. 3, the image captured by the camera shows road markings that define the driving lane of the vehicle V, including a left white or orange line LL extending in the longitudinal direction on the left side of the vehicle V, and a right white or orange line RL extending in the longitudinal direction on the right side of the vehicle V. These left and right lines LL and RL are virtually extended forward, and the point where they intersect is the vanishing point P.

[0024] Figure 4 shows an image captured by the camera when the road surface in front of the vehicle changes from a flat road to an uphill slope. Consider the vanishing point P when the road surface in front of the vehicle changes from a flat road to an uphill slope as shown in Figure 4. In this case, at least one of the left line LL or right line RL is bent, so there are two vanishing points P. The first vanishing point P1, where the left line LL and right line RL drawn on the flat road or downhill in the foreground intersect, is located closer (lower on the image) than the second vanishing point P2, where the left line LL and right line RL drawn on the uphill slope in the distance intersect. In this way, when at least one of the left line LL and right line RL in the image is bent, a first vanishing point P1 and a second vanishing point P2 exist, and vanishing point P2 is located higher in the image captured by the camera than vanishing point P1, it can be determined that there is an uphill slope ahead. The greater the inclination of the uphill slope ahead (the greater the road surface angle), the greater the vertical separation distance D in the image between the first vanishing point P1 and the second vanishing point P2. Therefore, it is possible to determine the road surface angle of the uphill slope according to this separation distance D. Note that separation distance D is actually the distance between the first vanishing point P1 and the second vanishing point P2 as seen by the camera. It means the angle between point P1 and the second vanishing point P2.

[0025] That is, the image processing unit of the road surface angle identification unit 4 identifies the left line LL and the right line RL of the road surface by image processing such as Hough transform from the image acquired by the camera. Next, the image processing unit judges whether or not at least one of the left line LL and the right line RL is bent. If either one is bent, the image processing unit judges a first vanishing point P1 where one line closer to the vehicle than the bend point intersects with the other line, and a second vanishing point P2 where one line farther from the vehicle than the bend point intersects with the other line. The image processing unit judges whether or not the first vanishing point P1 is closer to the vehicle than the second vanishing point P2. If both of the above judgments are Yes, the image processing unit calculates the vertical distance between the first vanishing point P1 and the second vanishing point P2, and identifies the road surface angle of the uphill slope ahead according to the distance. Similarly, when the road surface ahead of the vehicle changes from a downhill to an uphill, it is possible to identify the presence of an uphill slope ahead and the road surface angle of the uphill slope.

[0026] Although an example in which the road surface angle identification unit 4 is configured with a camera and an image processing unit has been described, the present invention is not limited to this example. The road surface angle identification unit 4 can also be configured with a LiDAR sensor and a processing unit that processes the output of the LiDAR sensor. The processing unit also includes reference to data from map information via the cloud, reference to 3D data for advanced driving assistance systems, etc.

[0027] Returning to FIG. 1, the target leveling angle calculation unit 5 calculates a target leveling angle according to the road surface angle calculated by the road surface angle specification unit 4. As described above, the target leveling angle calculation unit 5 sets the target leveling angle so that the illumination reference point is located on the road surface 70 m ahead of the vehicle. For example, if there is an uphill slope ahead, a target leveling angle larger than the reference leveling angle is set according to the road surface angle. Note that an angle larger than the reference leveling angle is an angle at which the headlights are directed upward so that light is illuminated upward, and an angle smaller than the reference leveling angle is an angle at which the headlights are directed downward so that light is illuminated downward. For example, a processor mounted on a vehicle or a lamp such as a lamp ECU corresponds to the target leveling angle calculation unit 5. The leveling angle of the reference position used for calculating the target leveling angle (leveling angle during flat driving) may be stored in a non-volatile memory when leveling is performed at engine start.

[0028] The history registration unit 6 registers the actual leveling angle output from the actual leveling angle detection unit 3, the target leveling angle output from the target leveling angle calculation unit 5, and the position information output from the position identification unit 2, which are obtained while the vehicle V is traveling, in the leveling angle history database DB1. For example, the history registration unit 6 corresponds to a processor of a lighting ECU, a vehicle ECU, or the like.

[0029] Fig. 5 shows an example of the leveling angle history database DB1. As shown in Fig. 5, the actual leveling angle, the target leveling angle, and position information are recorded in association with each other in the leveling angle history database DB1. Also, as shown in Fig. 5, the road surface angle may also be recorded in association with the position information in the leveling angle history database DB1. Here, "recorded in association with" means that the target leveling angle at a certain position coordinate is recorded in association with the position coordinate.

[0030] This leveling angle history database DB1 is recorded in the first recording unit 10 (see FIG. 2). The first recording unit 10 may be mounted on the vehicle V, or may be a recording device provided outside the vehicle V, such as a cloud server. For example, it may be a storage medium such as a memory inside the vehicle ECU. When the leveling angle history database DB1 is recorded in the first recording unit 10 provided outside the vehicle V, the history registration unit 6 provides the information to be recorded to the first recording unit 10 by wireless communication. The wireless communication means may be, for example, a telematics system for automobiles, etc. It would also be possible to use mobile communication systems, link with smartphones, or utilize in-car Wi-Fi. Storage devices include magnetic, optical, and electrical storage devices, such as random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or other combinations of physical, optical, and electrical means.

[0031] According to the leveling angle adjustment data providing system 50 according to this embodiment, data including the actual leveling angle, the target leveling angle, and position information can be easily collected.

[0032] <Leveling angle adjustment data provision system 50> Next, a description will be given of the leveling angle adjustment data providing system 50. As shown in FIG. The leveling angle adjustment data providing system 50 identifies a point where the target leveling angle and the actual leveling angle deviate from each other due to the time required for the operation of the leveling adjustment unit as described above. The adjustment point identifying unit 51 corresponds to, for example, a processor capable of arithmetic processing.

[0033] The adjustment point specifying unit 51 specifies, as an adjustment point, a position where the target leveling angle and the actual leveling angle differ by a first predetermined value or more, based on the leveling angle history database DB1. The adjustment point specifying unit 51 first reads out the leveling angle history database DB1. Next, the adjustment point specifying unit 51 specifies position information where the target leveling angle and the actual leveling angle differ by a first predetermined value or more, and specifies, as an adjustment point, the position where the target leveling angle and the actual leveling angle differ by the first predetermined value or more. In the following description, the position information of the point specified as the adjustment point is called adjustment point information.

[0034] The actual leveling angle detection unit 3 may output information due to thermal runaway of the sensor. Or, due to road construction, an unexpected road surface angle may be output. In order to avoid such unexpected actual leveling angles from being adjusted, the adjustment point identification unit 51 may not identify a point as an adjustment point when the actual leveling angle is away from the target leveling angle by a second predetermined value or more that is larger than the first predetermined value. In addition, the data collection system 1 may collect target leveling angles, actual leveling angles, and position information for the same road multiple times. In this case, the leveling angle adjustment data providing system 50 may be configured to specify the advance amount described later from the value obtained by performing statistical processing on the collected information. For example, when there are ten pairs of target leveling angles and actual leveling angles at a certain point, the adjustment point specifying unit 51 may output these average values ​​as the target leveling angles and actual leveling angles to the advance amount specifying unit 52, the adjustment registration unit 53, and the output unit 54. Alternatively, the adjustment point specifying unit 51 may calculate the average value from eight target leveling angles excluding the maximum and minimum values ​​among the ten target leveling angles. Alternatively, when there are many actual leveling angles, the amount of advance may be specified after performing statistical processing such as ignoring actual leveling angles that are more than twice the standard deviation away from the average value.

[0035] 2, the leveling angle adjustment data providing system 50 may include an advance amount specifying unit 52, an adjustment registration unit 53, and an output unit 54. Such a leveling angle adjustment data providing system 50 provides an advance amount, which is either an advance time or an advance distance for operating the leveling adjustment unit so as to reach the target leveling angle before approaching a point where the target leveling angle and the actual leveling angle diverge. As a result, as shown in FIG. 1(b), by operating the leveling adjustment unit so as to reach the target leveling angle from a point (e.g., point (c) in FIG. 1) before approaching a point where the road surface angle changes significantly, the headlight light is irradiated to an appropriate range when the point where the road surface angle actually changes is approached. The advance amount specifying unit 52, the adjustment registration unit 53, and the output unit 54 are, for example, a calculation processing Possible control circuits, calculators, computers, etc. are examples of such circuits.

[0036] The forward tilt amount specifying unit 52 specifies a first forward tilt time (an example of an forward tilt amount) that indicates how long before the time when the vehicle V passes the adjustment point the headlamp leveling adjustment unit is to be operated. Here, the forward tilt amount will be described as the forward tilt time. For example, the advance amount specifying unit 52 can set a time randomly selected from a time within a predetermined range as the first advance time. For example, the time within the predetermined range can be a time required to operate the leveling adjustment unit from the minimum leveling angle to the maximum leveling angle (e.g., 3 seconds, etc.). In addition, the time that can be randomly selected from the time within the predetermined range can be set to 0.01 seconds, 0.05 seconds, 0.1 seconds, 0.5 seconds, 1 second, 0.5 seconds, 2 seconds, 3 seconds, etc. It is preferable that three or more candidates are prepared for the time that can be randomly selected.

[0037] The amount of advance can also be interpreted as a concept of distance. The first advance distance is a distance indicating how far in front of the adjustment point the vehicle V should pass before the leveling adjustment unit is activated. The first advance distance can be set to a distance randomly selected from distances within a predetermined range, similar to the advance time described above. Alternatively, the first advance distance can be set to a distance obtained by multiplying a time randomly selected from times within a predetermined range by the vehicle speed obtained from the vehicle V.

[0038] The adjustment registration unit 53 records the position information of the adjustment point and the first advance amount in the adjustment database DB2. FIG. 6 shows an example of the adjustment database DB2. In the example shown in FIG. 6, the adjustment point information and the first advance amount (first advance time) are recorded in association with each other in the adjustment database DB2. As shown in FIG. 6, the road surface angle and the target leveling angle may also be recorded in association with the position information in the adjustment database DB2. Here, "recorded in association with" means that the first advance at a certain adjustment position coordinate is recorded in association with the adjustment position coordinate. The adjustment registration unit 53 corresponds to, for example, a control circuit capable of arithmetic processing, a computer, or the like.

[0039] This adjustment database DB2 is recorded in the second recording unit 60. The second recording unit 60 may be mounted on the vehicle V, or may be a recording device provided outside the vehicle V, such as a cloud server. The second recording unit 60 corresponds to a storage medium such as a memory, for example.

[0040] The output unit 54 provides at least a part of the adjustment database DB2 to the user based on a request signal from the user. The output unit 54 corresponds to, for example, a control circuit, a calculator, a computer, etc. capable of arithmetic processing. For example, when the data providing system 50, the second recording unit 60, and the adjustment system 100 are mounted on a vehicle V, in response to a request signal from the adjustment system 100, the output unit 54 of the data providing system 50 reads out the adjustment database DB2 from a memory, which is an example of the second recording unit 60, and provides it to the adjustment system 100. When the amount of data in the adjustment database DB2 is large, it may be configured to provide to the adjustment system 100 only information associated with adjustment points within a predetermined distance from the current location of the vehicle V. Alternatively, if the data providing system 50 is configured as a server installed outside the vehicle V, in response to a request signal from the user's vehicle V, the output unit 54 of the data providing system 50 reads the adjustment database DB2 from a memory, which is an example of the second recording unit 60, and provides the information to the adjustment system 100 via wireless communication.

[0041] The data providing system 50 may be an information processing device provided outside the vehicle V, such as a cloud server, or may be an information processing device mounted on the vehicle V on which the data collection system 1 is mounted. Alternatively, the adjustment database DB2 may be created based on a database created by a system different from the data collection system 1 described above.

[0042] According to the leveling angle data collection system 1 of this embodiment, the point where the actual leveling angle and the target leveling angle are significantly different from each other is specified based on the leveling angle history database DB1 including the position information, the actual leveling angle, and the target leveling angle. This makes it possible to provide an adjustment database DB2 indicating the point where the timing of operating the leveling adjustment unit should be adjusted.

[0043] <Leveling angle adjustment system 100> Next, the leveling angle adjustment system 100 will be described with reference to Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a block diagram of the leveling angle adjustment system 100. As shown in Fig. 7, the leveling angle adjustment system 100 includes a headlamp 101 having a leveling adjustment unit 102, a position identification unit 103, an adjustment data reading unit 104, and a leveling control unit 105.

[0044] The leveling adjustment unit 102 includes both a structure for mechanically controlling the leveling angle and a structure for electronically controlling the leveling angle. The structure for mechanically controlling the leveling angle is, for example, a mechanism for changing the inclination angle of a base on which a light source unit is mounted with respect to the housing of the headlamp 101. Such a mechanism includes, for example, a motor and an output shaft that moves forward and backward by the motor, the motor being attached to one of the housing and the base, and the output shaft being attached to the other of the housing and the base. The inclination angle of the base with respect to the housing is changed by the output shaft moving forward and backward. In such a structure for mechanically controlling the leveling angle, it takes about 1 to 3 seconds from when the target leveling angle is calculated until the actual leveling angle becomes the target leveling angle. The structure for electronically controlling the leveling angle is, for example, a light source control unit that controls the illumination / non-illumination of light for each of any areas set in front of the vehicle. The light source control unit controls the on / off of a plurality of light sources, thereby illuminating any area with light and forming a desired light distribution pattern. In such a headlamp 101, the leveling angle can be controlled by shifting the center coordinate of the light distribution pattern in the vertical direction. In such a structure for electronically controlling the leveling angle, the time required for the actual leveling angle to become the target leveling angle after the target leveling angle is calculated is about 0.1 to 0.3 seconds.

[0045] The adjustment data reading unit 104 reads out the position information of the adjustment point, the target leveling angle, and the amount of advance from the adjustment database DB2. As described above, the amount of advance is either the first advance time indicating how long before the time when the vehicle V passes the adjustment point the leveling adjustment unit 102 should be operated, or the first advance distance indicating how far before the adjustment point the vehicle V should pass the adjustment point when the leveling adjustment unit 102 should be operated. The adjustment data reading unit 104 corresponds to a processor mounted on a lamp or vehicle, such as a lamp ECU or vehicle ECU, for example.

[0046] The leveling control unit 105 operates the leveling adjustment unit 102 according to the target leveling angle. More specifically, based on the position information acquired by the position identification unit 103, when the vehicle V reaches the adjustment point within the first advance time or the vehicle V reaches a point the first advance distance before the adjustment point, the leveling control unit 105 operates the leveling adjustment unit 102 when the vehicle V reaches the adjustment point within the first advance time or the vehicle V reaches a point the first advance distance before the adjustment point. As a result, the leveling adjustment unit 102 operates at the timing when the headlight 101 is advanced according to the amount of advance recorded in the adjustment database DB2, and the headlight 101 can irradiate light to a desired area even when the road surface angle changes significantly. This includes processors installed in lighting fixtures and vehicles, such as the lighting ECU and vehicle ECU.

[0047] The leveling control unit 105 can be configured to determine, based on the position information and the vehicle speed, that the vehicle V will reach the adjustment point within the first advance time, or that the vehicle V will reach a point the first advance distance before the adjustment point.

[0048] In the above example, the first forward tilt amount is determined randomly. Therefore, there is a possibility that the operation of the leveling adjustment unit 102 may be too slow or too fast. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the adjustment system 100 may include an actual leveling angle detection unit 106 that detects the leveling angle of the headlamp 101 as an actual leveling angle, an forward tilt amount correction unit 107, and a correction update unit 108. The actual leveling angle detection unit 106 is an electronic circuit such as a microcomputer that controls a motor. The forward tilt amount correction unit 107 and the correction update unit 108 correspond to processors mounted on the lamp or vehicle, such as a lamp ECU or a vehicle ECU.

[0049] When the target leveling angle and the actual leveling angle obtained when the leveling control unit 105 operates the leveling adjustment unit 102 differ by a predetermined value or more, the forward-tilt amount correction unit 107 specifies a second forward-tilt amount, which is either a second forward-tilt time different from the first forward-tilt time or a second forward-tilt distance different from the first forward-tilt distance. The correction / update unit 108 rewrites the first advance amount with the second advance amount to update the adjustment database DB2.

[0050] For example, if 0.3 seconds is set as the first advance time, and the actual leveling angle still deviates from the target leveling angle even when the leveling adjustment unit 102 is operated with the first advance time advanced by 0.3 seconds, the advance amount specification unit 52 sets a value other than 0.3 seconds as the second advance time. The advance amount correction unit 107 may set a time selected randomly as in the case of setting the first advance time, or may set a time according to the degree of deviation between the actual leveling angle and the target leveling angle. The adjustment database DB2 is updated with the second advance amount set in this way.

[0051] When the adjustment database DB2 is updated in this way, when the vehicle V passes the same adjustment point again, the leveling adjustment unit 102 is operated by tilting forward by a second forward tilt amount different from 0.3 seconds. As the vehicle V repeatedly passes the same point and the first forward tilt amount is repeatedly updated by the second forward tilt amount, the deviation degree of the actual leveling angle from the target leveling angle becomes smaller than a predetermined value. This enables the headlamp 101 to irradiate light to an optimal range when passing over a road surface where the angle changes greatly.

[0052] The advance amount correction unit 107 may be configured to specify the second advance amount by deep reinforcement learning. For example, the advance amount correction unit 107 may be configured to obtain the second advance time by the following formula 1 using Q-learning, which is one of the algorithms of deep reinforcement learning. This algorithm is recorded in a recording device provided in the leveling angle adjustment system 100, and the advance amount correction unit 107 reads it from the recording device and executes the following.

number

number

[0053] When the forward movement amount correction unit 107 obtains the second forward movement distance using Q-learning, the above formula 2 can be changed to formula 3 and formula 1 can be used.

number

[0054] According to the leveling angle adjustment system 100 of this embodiment, the leveling adjustment unit 102 operates before the road surface angle changes significantly in accordance with the forward tilt amount read from the adjustment database DB2, so that the light of the headlight 101 can be projected to an appropriate area in front of the vehicle even when driving on a road surface whose angle changes significantly.

[0055] When the data collection system 1 and the adjustment system 100 are mounted on the same vehicle V, the position identification unit 2 of the data collection system 1 and the position identification unit 103 of the adjustment system 100 may be a common device. In this case, the actual leveling angle detection unit 3 of the data collection system 1 and the actual leveling angle detection unit 106 of the adjustment system 100 may be a common device.

[0056] When the road surface ahead of the vehicle is downhill, the road surface ahead cannot be seen immediately after the vehicle reaches the top, and the vanishing point cannot be identified. In this case, the road surface angle identification unit 4 outputs an error value as the road surface angle. Also, when the target leveling angle calculation unit 5 cannot identify the road surface angle, it outputs a reference leveling angle. The history registration unit 6 registers in the leveling angle history database the error value as the road surface angle, the reference leveling angle as the target leveling angle, and the actual leveling angle for the position immediately after the vehicle reaches the top. The leveling angle adjustment data providing system 50 has an error value registered as the road surface angle. The road surface angle estimation unit may be configured to estimate the road surface angle at an error position from the road surface angles before and after the error position contained in the leveling angle history database. For example, the road surface angle estimation unit may be configured to estimate the road surface angle at the error position to be -10 degrees when the road surface angle immediately north of the error position is 0 degrees and the road surface angle immediately south of the error position is -20 degrees. The road surface angle estimation unit updates the error value at the error position to the estimated road surface angle and saves the adjustment database. In this way, since the leveling angle adjustment data providing system 50 collects road surface angle information for a large number of positions, it is possible to estimate the road surface angle from the surrounding road surface angles even for positions where the road surface angle cannot be identified. The leveling control unit 105 of the leveling angle adjustment system 100 may be configured to set the target leveling angle to the reference leveling angle when the road surface angle in the adjustment database is an error value.

[0057] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be freely modified, improved, etc. as appropriate. The material, shape, size, numerical value, form, number, location, etc. of each component in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary and not limited as long as the present invention can be achieved. [Explanation of symbols]

[0058] 1 Leveling angle data collection system 2 Location identification part 3 Actual leveling angle detection section 4 Road surface angle identification part 5 Target leveling angle calculation section 6 History Registration Section 10 First Recording Section 50 Leveling angle adjustment data provision system 51 Adjustment point identification section 52 Advance amount determination unit 53 Coordination and Registration Department 54 Output section 60 Second Recording Department 100 Leveling angle adjustment system 101 Headlight 102 Leveling adjustment part 103 Location identification part 104 Adjustment data reading unit 105 Leveling control section 106 Actual leveling angle detector 107 Frontward movement amount correction part 108 Modification and update section DB1 Leveling angle history database DB2 Tuning Database

Claims

1. a location identification unit that identifies location information of a current location of a vehicle; an actual leveling angle detection unit that detects a leveling angle of a vehicle headlamp as an actual leveling angle; a target leveling angle calculation unit that calculates a target leveling angle according to a road surface angle; a history registration unit that registers the actual leveling angle, the target leveling angle, and the position information acquired while the vehicle is traveling in a leveling angle history database; A leveling angle data collection system comprising:

2. A road surface angle identification unit that identifies the road surface angle, 2. The leveling angle data collection system according to claim 1, wherein the road surface angle identification unit identifies a vanishing point in an image captured by a camera mounted on the vehicle, and identifies the road surface angle based on the vanishing point.

3. A road surface angle identification unit that identifies the road surface angle, When the road surface angle identification unit cannot identify the road surface angle, it outputs an error value.

2. The leveling angle data collection system according to claim 1, wherein said target leveling angle calculation unit outputs a reference leveling angle when the road surface angle is an error value.

4. A leveling angle adjustment data providing system having an adjustment point identification unit that identifies, from a leveling angle history database in which position information indicating a certain position, an actual leveling angle which is the leveling angle of the headlights at the position, and a target leveling angle calculated according to the road surface angle at the position are associated and recorded, as an adjustment point, a position where the target leveling angle and the actual leveling angle differ by a predetermined value or more.

5. an advance amount specifying unit that specifies an advance amount, which is either a first advance time that indicates how long before the time when the vehicle passes the adjustment point that the headlamp leveling adjustment unit is to be operated, or a first advance distance that indicates how far before the adjustment point the vehicle should pass that the leveling adjustment unit should be operated; 5. The leveling angle adjustment data providing system according to claim 4, further comprising an adjustment registration unit that records position information of the adjustment point and the first forward amount in an adjustment database.

6. 5. The leveling angle adjustment data providing system according to claim 4, wherein the adjustment point identifying unit does not identify the position information as the adjustment point when the actual leveling angle and the target leveling angle differ by a maximum threshold value or more that is greater than a predetermined value.

7. A leveling angle adjustment system for adjusting a leveling angle of a headlamp mounted on a vehicle, comprising: The headlamp includes a leveling adjustment unit that adjusts the leveling angle; a location identification unit that identifies location information of a current location of the vehicle; an adjustment data reading unit that reads out the position information of the adjustment point, the target leveling angle, and the advance amount from an adjustment database in which position information of an adjustment point requiring adjustment of the leveling angle, a target leveling angle determined according to a road surface angle of the adjustment point, and an advance amount, which is either a first advance time indicating how long before the time when the vehicle passes the adjustment point the leveling adjustment unit should be operated or a first advance distance indicating how far before the adjustment point the vehicle should pass the adjustment point the leveling adjustment unit should be operated; a leveling control unit that operates the leveling adjustment unit in accordance with the target leveling angle, the leveling control unit causes the leveling control unit to operate the leveling adjustment unit when the vehicle reaches the adjustment point within the first advance time or when the vehicle reaches a point that is the first advance distance before the adjustment point, based on the position information acquired by the position identification unit; The leveling control unit determines, based on the position information and the vehicle speed, that the vehicle will reach the adjustment point within the first advance time, or that the vehicle will reach a point the first advance distance before the adjustment point. A leveling angle adjustment system.

8. an actual leveling angle detection unit that detects the leveling angle of the headlamp as an actual leveling angle; an advance amount correction unit that specifies a second advance amount, which is either a second advance time different from the first advance time or a second advance distance different from the first advance distance, when the target leveling angle and the actual leveling angle, which are acquired when the leveling control unit is caused to operate, differ by a predetermined value or more; 8. The leveling angle adjustment system according to claim 7, further comprising a correction / update unit that updates the adjustment database by rewriting the first advance amount with the second advance amount.

9. The leveling angle adjustment system according to claim 8 , wherein the advance amount correction unit calculates the second advance time by deep reinforcement learning represented by the following equation 1 so that Q(st, at,) is maximized. [0010] (Formula 1) t: Number of times passing through the adjustment point s: Current location a: A second advance time calculated by the following formula 2, or a second advance time determined randomly γ: Deviation between target leveling angle and actual leveling angle γ: any number between 0 and 1 [0025] (Formula 2) fwd time :Second advance time [sec] FWD MAXTIME :Maximum advance time [sec] difference: Deviation between target leveling angle and actual leveling angle [-] DIFFERENCE MAX : Maximum deviation between target leveling angle and actual leveling angle [-]

10. The leveling angle adjustment system according to claim 8 , wherein the forward-tilt amount correction unit calculates the second forward-tilt distance by deep reinforcement learning represented by the following equation 1 so that Q(st, at,) is maximized. [0030] (Formula 1) t: Number of times passing through the adjustment point s: current location and vehicle speed a: A second advance distance calculated by the following formula 3, or a second advance distance determined randomly γ: Deviation between target leveling angle and actual leveling angle γ: any number between 0 and 1 [0045] (Formula 3) fwd distance :Second advance distance [sec] FWD MAXTIME :Maximum advance time [sec] difference: Deviation between target leveling angle and actual leveling angle [-] speed car : Vehicle speed [km / h] DIFFERENCE MAX : Maximum deviation between target leveling angle and actual leveling angle [-]

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