Headlight control device and headlight control method

Abstract

This headlight control device comprises: a first object determination unit (11) that determines, on the basis of sensor information, whether or not an object estimated to become a target to be visually recognized by a driver is present in front of a moving body; a second object determination unit (12) that determines, on the basis of a captured image, whether or not the object is present in front of the moving body; an intensified irradiation determination unit (13) that, when the second object determination unit (12) does not determine that the object that is estimated to be a first recognition object determined to be present by the first object determination unit (11) is present, regardless of the fact that the first object determination unit (11) determines that the object is present, determines that intensified irradiation is necessary with respect to the first recognition object; and an intensified irradiation control unit (14) that causes a headlight (4) provided on the moving body to perform intensified irradiation with respect to the first recognition object upon receiving a determination result by the intensified irradiation determination unit (13) that the intensified irradiation is necessary with respect to the first recognition object.

Description

Headlight control device and headlight control method

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a headlight control device and a headlight control method.

[0002] Conventionally, there is known a technology for controlling the illumination of headlights of a moving body so as to illuminate an object in front of the moving body with light in order to make the driver aware of the object. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a control device for a vehicle that calculates the risk of collision with a plurality of pedestrians in front of the vehicle detected by a detector, and controls an actuator of the spot lamp so that the light axis of the spot lamp is directed toward the pedestrian with the highest risk.

[0003] JP 2012-40950 A

[0004] The conventional technologies, such as the illumination control technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, have a problem in that illumination control is not performed taking into consideration whether an object detected ahead of a moving vehicle is difficult for the driver to see. Patent Document 1 describes that, for example, the color of a pedestrian's clothing can be used as a parameter in calculating the risk level, but this is based on the premise that the driver can recognize the pedestrian as a pedestrian, and does not take into consideration the possibility that the pedestrian itself is difficult for the driver to recognize, in other words, difficult for the driver to see, and the above problem remains unsolved.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a headlight control device that can perform illumination control for an object in front of a moving vehicle, taking into account whether the object is difficult for the driver to see.

[0006] The headlight control device according to the present disclosure includes a first object determination unit that determines whether or not an object that is estimated to be a target for the driver to view is present ahead of the moving body based on sensor information output from an edge detection device that detects objects present ahead of the moving body; a second object determination unit that determines whether or not an object is present ahead of the moving body based on an image captured by a visible light camera that captures an image ahead of the moving body; an emphasis illumination determination unit that determines that emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognized object when the first object determination unit determines that an object is present but the second object determination unit does not determine that an object that is estimated to be the first recognized object that the first object determination unit determined to exist is present; and an emphasis illumination control unit that, in response to the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit that emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognized object, causes the headlights provided on the moving body to perform emphasis illumination for the first recognized object.

[0007] According to the present disclosure, illumination control for an object present in front of a moving body can be performed taking into consideration whether the object is difficult for the driver to see.

[0008] FIG. 3A is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a headlight control device according to embodiment 1. FIG. 3B is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the headlight control device according to embodiment 1. FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are diagrams showing an example of the hardware configuration of the headlight control device according to embodiment 1. FIG. 3B is a diagram for explaining an example of how a headlight highlights and illuminates a target road surface in embodiment 2. FIG. 3B is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the headlight control device according to embodiment 2. FIG. 3C is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the headlight control device according to embodiment 3. FIG. 3D is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the headlight control device according to embodiment 4. FIG. 3E is another flowchart for explaining the operation of the headlight control device according to embodiment 4.

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Embodiment 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example configuration of a headlight control device 1 according to embodiment 1. The headlight control device 1 determines the presence or absence of an object that is presumed to be a visual target for the driver and that exists ahead of a moving body, and controls the headlights 4 to emit light toward the object, taking into consideration whether the object is difficult for the driver of the moving body to see. In embodiment 1 below, an object presumed to be a visual target for the driver is also referred to as an "object." An "object" is an object that, if present, could cause an unexpected incident to the moving body while the moving body is traveling, and could be an obstacle to the moving body. An "object" includes moving bodies including people, stationary objects, and road structures. In embodiment 1 below, the moving body is assumed to be a vehicle (not shown) as an example.

[0010] In the first embodiment, the illumination control of the headlights 4 performed by the headlight control device 1 is assumed to be control of accentuated illumination of an object by the headlights 4. In the first embodiment, "accentuated illumination" refers to the headlights 4 illuminating a certain range with light, or the headlights 4 illuminating a certain range within the normal illumination range with increased light intensity. The headlight control device 1 controls the illumination range or the illumination intensity of the light to be irradiated by the headlights 4, thereby controlling the accentuated illumination. Based on the control of the headlight control device 1, the headlights 4 irradiate or increase the light intensity of an illumination range instructed by the headlight control device 1. In the first embodiment, it is assumed that the illumination control of the headlights 4 by the headlight control device 1 is performed when the headlights 4 are turned on in a dark location, such as a parking lot at night, an urban area at night, or an underground parking lot.

[0011] In the following first embodiment, it is assumed that a headlight control device 1 is mounted on a vehicle. The headlight control device 1 is connected to an edge detection device 2, a visible light camera 3, and a headlight 4. The edge detection device 2, the visible light camera 3, and the headlight 4 are provided on the vehicle.

[0012] The edge detection device 2 is a sensor that monitors the area ahead of the vehicle. The edge detection device 2 detects objects ahead of the vehicle and acquires information about the detected objects (hereinafter referred to as "sensor information"). The edge detection device 2 is, for example, a millimeter-wave sensor, LiDAR, or infrared camera. In the following first embodiment, the edge detection device 2 is assumed to be a millimeter-wave sensor. The millimeter-wave sensor acquires, as sensor information, information about the position of an object ahead of the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as "position information"). The millimeter-wave sensor transmits radio waves, such as millimeter waves, ahead of the vehicle and receives the reflected waves from the object. The millimeter-wave sensor can detect the presence, position, speed, and shape of an object associated with the reflected waves based on the time from when the radio waves are transmitted to when the reflected waves are received. The position information acquired by the millimeter-wave sensor includes information about the presence of an object, the relative distance to the object, the relative angle to the object, the speed of the object, and the shape of the object. The shape of the object refers to the width of the object. The radio waves are irradiated onto a predetermined area in front of the vehicle, and the position information includes information on the presence of an object, the relative distance to the object, the relative angle to the object, the relative speed of the object, the shape of the object, etc., for the number of areas irradiated with the radio waves. The edge detection device 2 outputs the acquired sensor information to the headlight control device 1.

[0013] The visible light camera 3 is installed on the vehicle to capture an image of the area ahead of the vehicle. The visible light camera 3 acquires the captured image as image information. The visible light camera 3 outputs the captured image to the headlight control device 1.

[0014] The headlights 4 are lamps that illuminate the area ahead of the vehicle. The headlights 4 may be, for example, spotlights provided on the vehicle exclusively for highlighting, or may be high-performance headlights. For example, if the headlights 4 are spotlights, the headlights 4 perform highlighting by irradiating a certain range with light under the control of the headlight control device 1. For example, if the headlights 4 are high-performance headlights, the headlights 4 perform highlighting by irradiating a certain range within the normal light illumination range with increased light intensity under the control of the headlight control device 1. Because the headlights 4 are general headlights, detailed configuration examples of the headlights 4 will not be described here. However, the headlights 4 include a left light (not shown) mounted on the left side of the vehicle relative to the vehicle's traveling direction, and a right light (not shown) mounted on the right side of the vehicle relative to the vehicle's traveling direction. In the first embodiment, the area ahead of the vehicle that the headlights 4 can highlight is referred to as the "highlighting illumination capable area." The extent of the highlighted illumination possible area and the extent of the area from the front of the vehicle are determined in advance according to the specifications of the headlight 4, etc.

[0015] We will now explain an example configuration of the headlight control device 1. The headlight control device 1 includes a first object determination unit 11, a second object determination unit 12, an emphasis illumination determination unit 13, and an emphasis illumination control unit 14. The first object determination unit 11, the second object determination unit 12, and the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 constitute a probability determination unit 10.

[0016] The first object determination unit 11 determines, based on the sensor information output from the edge detection device 2, whether or not there is an object in front of the vehicle that is estimated to be the target of the driver's vision, in other words, a target object.

[0017] For example, the first object determination unit 11 determines that an object is present when, based on the sensor information, an object is detected within a predetermined range (hereinafter referred to as the "sensor object detection range") in the horizontal and vertical directions relative to the vehicle's traveling direction as viewed from the position of the edge detection device 2. The sensor object detection range is, for example, a range extending to the current vehicle lane or to a location close to the current vehicle lane, including adjacent lanes, roadsides, sidewalks, etc. For example, an administrator or the like sets the distance expected to be within the current vehicle lane or a location close to the current vehicle lane as the sensor object detection range and stores it in a location that can be referenced by the first object determination unit 11. The first object determination unit 11 determines that an object is present when the edge detection device 2 detects an object within the sensor object detection range.

[0018] Note that this is merely an example, and the first object determination unit 11 may determine whether or not an object exists based on sensor information using other methods. For example, the first object determination unit 11 may acquire map information from a map database (not shown), acquire vehicle position information from a GPS (Global Positioning System), determine the vehicle's lane and locations near the lane based on the map information and the vehicle's position information, and determine whether or not an object exists based on whether or not an object detected by the edge detection device 2 exists at the determined location. Alternatively, for example, the first object determination unit 11 may acquire a captured image from the visible light camera 3 or another camera (not shown), detect white lines using a known image recognition technique, determine the vehicle's lane and locations near the lane, and determine whether or not an object exists based on whether or not an object detected by the edge detection device 2 exists at the determined location. Also, for example, the first object determination unit 11 may use a vehicle body motion model to determine the vehicle's own lane and a location close to the own lane, and determine whether or not an object exists in the determined location based on whether or not an object detected by the edge detection device 2 is present.

[0019] Furthermore, for example, the first object determination unit 11 may determine that an object exists when an object of a predetermined size (width) is detected based on sensor information. Furthermore, for example, the first object determination unit 11 may determine that an object exists when an object is detected based on sensor information.

[0020] The first object determination unit 11 generates a determination result as to whether or not an object exists (hereinafter referred to as the "first object determination result"). The first object determination result includes information indicating the presence or absence of the object, and, if the object exists, sensor information related to the object that the first object determination unit 11 acquires from the edge detection device 2. The first object determination unit 11 outputs the generated first object determination result to the emphasis illumination determination unit 13. In the first embodiment, an object that the first object determination unit 11 determines to exist is also referred to as the "first recognized object."

[0021] The second object determination unit 12 determines whether an object estimated to be visually recognized by the driver (i.e., a target object) is present ahead of the vehicle based on the captured image output from the visible light camera 3. The second object determination unit 12 may determine whether an object is present from the captured image using a known image recognition technology. The second object determination unit 12 may determine whether an object is present using, for example, a trained model (hereinafter referred to as a "machine learning model") that receives a captured image as input and outputs information regarding whether an object is present, or may determine whether an object is present according to preset conditions (hereinafter referred to as "image target detection conditions"). The machine learning model is generated in advance by an administrator or the like and stored in a location accessible to the second object determination unit 12. The image target detection conditions are set in advance by an administrator or the like and stored in a location accessible to the second object determination unit 12. The image target detection conditions may define, for example, the size (width) of the object.

[0022] For example, when a machine learning model is used, the second object determination unit 12 inputs the captured image output from the visible light camera 3 into the machine learning model to obtain information regarding the presence or absence of an object, thereby determining whether or not an object exists. The information regarding the presence or absence of an object obtained from the machine learning model includes information indicating the presence or absence of the object and information indicating the position of the object in the captured image. For example, when image object detection conditions are used, the second object determination unit 12 determines whether or not an object exists based on whether or not an object that meets the image object detection conditions is present as a result of performing image recognition processing on the captured image. After determining whether or not an object exists, the second object determination unit 12 generates a determination result regarding whether or not the object exists (hereinafter referred to as a "second object determination result"). The second object determination result includes information indicating the presence or absence of the object, information indicating the position of the object if the object exists, and the captured image acquired by the second object determination unit 12 from the visible light camera 3. In the second object determination result, the position of the object is indicated by coordinates in the captured image. The second object determination unit 12 outputs the generated second object determination result to the emphasis illumination determination unit 13. In the first embodiment, an object that the second object determination unit 12 determines to exist is also referred to as a "second recognition object."

[0023] The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines whether emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognized object based on the first object determination result output from the first object determination unit 11 and the second object determination result output from the second object determination unit 12. Specifically, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that emphasis illumination for the first recognized object by the headlights 4 is necessary when the first object determination unit 11 determines that an object exists but the second object determination unit 12 does not determine that an object estimated to be the object determined by the first object determination unit 11 to exist (i.e., the first recognized object) exists. The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that emphasis illumination by the headlights 4 is unnecessary when the first object determination unit 11 determines that an object exists and the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists. The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 also determines that emphasis illumination by the headlights 4 is unnecessary when the first object determination unit 11 determines that an object does not exist.

[0024] The details of the above-mentioned process performed by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 to determine whether emphasis illumination is required for the first recognition object will be described below.

[0025] The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 acquires the first object determination result and the second object determination result from the first object determination unit 11 and the second object determination unit 12, respectively. Then, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 first determines whether or not the first object determination unit 11 has determined that an object exists, based on the first object determination result. If the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that the first object determination unit 11 has determined that an object exists, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines whether or not the second object determination unit 12 has determined that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists.

[0026] Here, we will provide a detailed explanation, using an example, of the method by which the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines whether the second object determination unit 12 has determined that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists (hereinafter referred to as ``camera recognition feasibility determination'') when the first object determination unit 11 has determined that an object exists.

[0027] For example, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 first converts the position of the object determined by the first object determination unit 11 to exist (i.e., the first recognized object) based on the first object determination result obtained from the first object determination unit 11 into a position on the captured image acquired from the visible light camera 3 by the second object determination unit 12, taking into account the difference between the installation position of the edge detection device 2 and the installation position of the visible light camera 3. The position of the first recognized object on the captured image is represented by coordinates on the captured image. Note that the installation positions of the edge detection device 2 and the visible light camera 3 are known in advance. Furthermore, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 can identify the position of the first recognized object in real space based on the first object determination result. The first object determination result includes sensor information including position information of the first recognized object.

[0028] Next, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 compares the coordinates (referred to as the first coordinates) on the captured image indicating the position of the first recognized object with the coordinates (referred to as the second coordinates) indicating the position of the object (i.e., the second recognized object) that the second object determination unit 12 has determined to exist based on the second object determination result obtained from the second object determination unit 12.

[0029] If the difference between the first and second coordinates is within a predetermined threshold value as a result of comparing the first and second coordinates, in other words, if the first and second objects are at a distance within a predetermined threshold value on the captured image, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that the second object determination unit 12 has determined that an object presumed to be the first object exists. In other words, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that the first and second objects are presumed to be the same object.

[0030] On the other hand, if the difference between the first coordinates and the second coordinates is greater than a preset threshold, in other words, if the first and second objects are located at a distance greater than a preset threshold in the captured image, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that the second object determination unit 12 has not determined that an object estimated to be the first object exists. In other words, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that the first and second objects are not estimated to be the same object.

[0031] In this way, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines whether or not the camera can recognize the object. After determining whether or not the camera can recognize the object, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 then determines whether or not emphasis illumination of the first object to be recognized by the headlights 4 is necessary, as described below.

[0032] If, as a result of the camera recognition feasibility determination, the first object determination unit 11 determines that an object exists, but the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object estimated to be the first recognized object does not exist, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that emphasis illumination of the first recognized object by the headlights 4 is necessary. The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 then outputs an instruction to perform emphasis illumination of the first recognized object (hereinafter referred to as "emphasis illumination instruction information") to the emphasis illumination control unit 14. When the emphasis illumination instruction information is output from the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, in other words, in response to the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that emphasis illumination of the first recognized object is necessary, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination of the first recognized object. Details of the emphasis illumination control unit 14 will be described later. The emphasis illumination instruction information output by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 to the emphasis illumination control unit 14 includes information that emphasis illumination of the first recognized object is necessary and the first object determination result. In the following description, the first recognition object for which the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 has determined that emphasis illumination is required will also be referred to as an "emphasis illumination object."

[0033] If the second object determination unit 12 does not determine that there is an object estimated to be the first recognition object, this means that the visible light camera 3 is unable to recognize the first recognition object. In the first embodiment, the fact that the visible light camera 3 is able to recognize an object means that the object is captured in a recognizable manner in an image captured by the visible light camera 3. If the visible light camera 3 is unable to recognize the first recognition object, this is presumed to be an object that is difficult for the driver to recognize, in other words, an object that is difficult to see. Therefore, in this case, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognition object, and outputs emphasis illumination instruction information to the emphasis illumination control unit 14 to cause emphasis illumination of the first recognition object as an object to be emphasized. As a result, the first recognition object is emphasized. As described above, it is the emphasis illumination control unit 14 that directly controls the emphasis illumination of the headlights 4. The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognition object via the emphasis illumination control unit 14. It is estimated that the emphasis illumination of the first recognition object will make the first recognition object more recognizable to the visible light camera 3. In other words, it is estimated that the emphasis illumination of the first recognition object will make the first recognition object more visible to the driver. The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognition object and causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognition object via the emphasis illumination control unit 14, thereby increasing the recognition rate of the first recognition object by the driver. Furthermore, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 can avoid a collision with the emphasis illumination object or suppress sudden steering or braking control by the driver.

[0034] On the other hand, if, as a result of the camera recognition determination, the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that additional emphasis illumination by the headlights 4 is unnecessary.

[0035] If the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object estimated to be the first recognition object exists, this means that the visible light camera 3 has recognized the first recognition object. If the visible light camera 3 has recognized the first recognition object, it is estimated that the first recognition object is an object that is easy for the driver to recognize, in other words, an object that is not difficult to see. In this case, even if the first recognition object is not highlighted, the first recognition object is easy for the driver to see. In other words, by not providing additional highlight illumination for an object that is estimated to be easy to recognize, the highlight illumination determination unit 13 can reduce the driver's distraction due to unnecessary highlight illumination. However, in this case, it is also assumed that the first recognition object is already being highlighted. If the first recognition object is already being highlighted, the highlight illumination for the first recognition object will continue. Details of the method by which the highlight illumination determination unit 13 determines whether the first recognition object is already being highlighted will be described later.

[0036] If the first object determination unit 11 determines that the object does not exist in the first place, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that emphasis illumination by the headlights 4 is unnecessary, and outputs emphasis illumination unnecessary information to the emphasis illumination control unit 14. In this case, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 does not perform a camera recognition possibility determination either.

[0037] The emphasis illumination control unit 14 controls the emphasis illumination of the headlights 4 based on instructions from the emphasis illumination determination unit 13. When emphasis illumination instruction information is output from the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, in other words, when the emphasis illumination control unit 14 receives the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognition object, which is an object to be highlighted, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination for the first recognition object.

[0038] Specifically, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 determines the left-right range of the light to be emphasized by the headlight 4 based on the emphasis illumination instruction information. The left-right range of the light to be emphasized by the headlight 4 is expressed, for example, as an angle from the installation position of the headlight 4, with the installation position of the headlight 4 set as the reference (0 degrees). The emphasis illumination instruction information includes a first object determination result including sensor information. Based on the sensor information, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 can determine the location and width of the first recognition object. If the emphasis illumination control unit 14 can determine the location and width of the first recognition object, it can determine the left-right range of the light to be emphasized by the headlight 4, i.e., the angle. Note that since the positional relationship between the installation positions of the headlight 4 and the edge detection device 2 is known in advance, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 can associate the position and width of the first recognition object based on the sensor information with the illumination range of the light to be emphasized by the headlight 4.

[0039] The emphasis illumination control unit 14 determines the left-right range of light to be emphasized by the headlight 4 for each of the left light and the right light, as described above. Note that this is merely an example, and the emphasis illumination control unit 14 may, for example, cause either the left light or the right light to emit emphasis illumination. In this case, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 determines the left-right range of light to be emphasized for the left light or the right light to emit emphasis illumination.

[0040] After determining the horizontal range of the light to be accentuated by the headlight 4, the accentuated illumination control unit 14 converts information for causing the headlight 4 to accentuate the first recognition object (hereinafter referred to as "accentuated illumination control information") into an output format suited to the headlight 4, and outputs the converted accentuated illumination control information to the headlight 4. Note that the conversion of the accentuated illumination control information into an output format suited to the headlight 4, performed by the accentuated illumination control unit 14, is a general output format conversion adapted to the specifications of the output destination. The accentuated illumination control information includes information indicating an angle representing the horizontal range of the light to be accentuated by the headlight 4. Note that in the first embodiment, as described above, the accentuated illumination control unit 14 determines the horizontal range of the light to be accentuated by the headlight 4. However, this is merely an example, and the accentuated illumination control unit 14 may, for example, determine a vertical range in addition to the horizontal range of the light to be accentuated by the headlight 4 based on the accentuated illumination instruction information. Like the horizontal range, the vertical range of the light to be accentuated by the headlight 4 is also expressed, for example, by an angle as viewed from the installation position of the headlight 4. In this case, the "width of the object" included in the sensor information is assumed to include the height of the object. Note that the "width of the object" included in the sensor information may also include the height of the object. In this case, the emphasis illumination control information includes information indicating an angle representing the range in the horizontal direction of the light that the headlight 4 is to emit in an emphasis direction, in addition to information indicating an angle representing the range in the vertical direction of the light that the headlight 4 is to emit in an emphasis direction.

[0041] The emphasis illumination control unit 14 outputs emphasis illumination control information to the headlights 4, for example, by using an in-vehicle network. A specific example of an in-vehicle network is CAN (Controller Area Network). Note that this is merely an example, and the in-vehicle network may also be a communication network such as LIN (Local Interconnect Network), FlexRay (registered trademark, description of which will be omitted hereinafter), or CAN FD (CAN with Flexible Data Rate). The headlights 4 perform emphasis illumination in accordance with the emphasis illumination control information output from the emphasis illumination control unit 14.

[0042] It should be noted that, when emphasis illumination unnecessary information is output from the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 does not control emphasis illumination for the headlights 4. The emphasis illumination control unit 14 may not control emphasis illumination for the headlights 4 when emphasis illumination instruction information is not output from the emphasis illumination determination unit 13.

[0043] In the first embodiment, the process in which the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines whether emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognition object, and when it determines that emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognition object, causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination for the first recognition object via the emphasis illumination control unit 14 is referred to as the "first illumination control process."

[0044] The operation of the headlight control device 1 according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart for describing the operation of the headlight control device 1 according to the first embodiment. For example, when the headlights 4 are turned on or when it is determined that the surroundings are dark, the headlight control device 1 determines to start illumination control of the headlights 4 and starts the operation shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2. The headlight control device 1 repeats the operation shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2 until, for example, the headlights 4 are turned off, until it is no longer determined that the surroundings are dark, or until the vehicle power is turned off. For example, a control unit (not shown) of the headlight control device 1 acquires information indicating the state of the headlights 4 from a headlight switch (not shown) mounted on the vehicle and determines whether the headlights 4 are on. Furthermore, for example, the control unit acquires illuminance information indicating the brightness of the surroundings of the vehicle from an illuminance sensor (not shown) mounted on the vehicle and determines whether the surroundings of the vehicle are dark based on the acquired illuminance information. If the control unit determines that the headlights 4 are on or that the area around the vehicle is dark, it determines to start illumination control of the headlights 4, and outputs information instructing the start of illumination control of the headlights 4 to the probability determination unit 10 and the emphasis illumination control unit 14. Furthermore, if the control unit determines that the headlights 4 are off, that the area around the vehicle is not dark, or that the vehicle has been turned off, it determines to end illumination control of the headlights 4, and outputs information instructing the end of illumination control of the headlights 4 to the probability determination unit 10 and the emphasis illumination control unit 14.

[0045] The first object determination unit 11 determines whether or not an object exists ahead of the vehicle based on the sensor information output from the edge detection device 2 (step ST201). The first object determination unit 11 generates a first object determination result and outputs the generated first object determination result to the emphasis illumination determination unit 13.

[0046] The second object determination unit 12 determines whether or not an object exists ahead of the vehicle based on the captured image output from the visible light camera 3 (step ST202). The second object determination unit 12 generates a second object determination result and outputs the generated second object determination result to the emphasis illumination determination unit 13.

[0047] The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines, based on the first object determination result, whether or not the first object determination unit 11 has determined, based on the sensor information, that there is an object (step ST203).

[0048] If the first object determination unit 11 determines in step ST203 that an object exists (if "YES" in step ST203), the highlight illumination determination unit 13 determines whether the second object determination unit 12 has determined that an object estimated to be the first recognition object exists (step ST204).

[0049] If the first object determination unit 11 determines that an object exists, but the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object presumed to be the first object does not exist ("NO" in step ST204), the accentuated illumination determination unit 13 determines whether accentuated illumination is being performed on the first object (step ST205). For example, if the accentuated illumination determination unit 13 determines that accentuated illumination should be performed on the first object and controls accentuated illumination control unit 14 to perform accentuated illumination on the first object, the accentuated illumination determination unit 13 generates information that associates information identifying the first object with information indicating that accentuated illumination is being performed (hereinafter referred to as "accentuated illumination information") and stores the information in a location accessible by the headlight control device 1. The information identifying the first object is, for example, an ID assigned to the first object. For example, when the edge detection device 2 detects an object, it assigns an ID to the object, and the ID information is included in the sensor information. The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 can determine the ID of the first recognition object based on the first object determination result. The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 can determine whether the first recognition object is currently being emphasized by, for example, comparing the ID of the first recognition object determined based on the first object determination result with the ID of the first recognition object included in the emphasis illumination in-progress information. Note that the emphasis illumination in-progress information is cleared, for example, when the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that emphasis illumination by the headlights 4 is unnecessary or when the power of the headlight control device 1 is turned off.

[0050] If it is determined in step ST205 that the first recognition object is not being highlighted ("NO" in step ST205), the highlight illumination determination unit 13 determines that highlight illumination of the first recognition object by the headlights 4 is necessary (step ST206). Then, the highlight illumination determination unit 13 outputs highlight illumination instruction information for causing the highlight illumination of the first recognition object to be performed to the highlight illumination control unit 14. When the highlight illumination instruction information is output from the highlight illumination determination unit 13, the highlight illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform highlight illumination of the first recognition object, which is the highlight illumination object. Specifically, the highlight illumination control unit 14 determines the range in the left and right directions of the light that the headlights 4 are to highlight illuminate, and outputs highlight illumination control information to the headlights 4 for causing the headlights 4 to perform highlight illumination of the first recognition object.

[0051] If, in step ST203, the first object determination unit 11 determines that an object does not exist (if "NO" in step ST203), if, in step ST204, the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists (if "YES" in step ST204), and if, in step ST205, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that the first recognized object is being emphasized (if "YES" in step ST205), the headlight control device 1 terminates the processing shown in the flowchart of Figure 2.

[0052] The processes of steps ST203 to ST206 in FIG. 2 are executed in the "first irradiation control process."

[0053] 2, the processing of step ST201 and the processing of step ST202 are performed in parallel, but this is merely an example. For example, the processing of step ST202 may be performed after the processing of step ST201, or vice versa. It is sufficient that the processing of step ST201 and the processing of step ST202 are performed before the processing of step ST203 is performed.

[0054] 2, the determination in step ST205 is performed, but the headlight control device 1 does not necessarily perform the determination in step ST205. If the first object determination unit 11 determines that an object exists, but the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object estimated to be the first recognized object does not exist (in the case of "NO" in step ST204), the headlight control device 1 may cause the headlights 4 to perform emphasized illumination of the first recognized object.

[0055] In this way, the headlight control device 1 determines whether an object exists ahead of the vehicle based on the sensor information output from the edge detection device 2, and determines whether an object exists ahead of the vehicle based on the captured image captured by the visible light camera 3. If the headlight control device 1 determines that an object exists based on the sensor information but is unable to determine based on the captured image that an object estimated to be the first recognized object determined to exist based on the sensor information exists, the headlight control device 1 determines that accentuated illumination of the first recognized object is necessary. If the headlight control device 1 determines that accentuated illumination of the first recognized object is necessary, the headlight control device 1 controls the headlights 4 to accentuate illumination of the first recognized object. Therefore, the headlight control device 1 can perform lighting control that takes into account whether an object (object) existing ahead of the vehicle is difficult for the driver to see. The headlight control device 1 can increase the driver's recognition rate of the object (first recognized object), prevent a collision with the object, or suppress sudden steering or braking by the driver. Furthermore, the headlight control device 1 does not perform accentuated illumination on objects that are estimated to be easily recognized by the driver even without accentuated illumination, thereby reducing unnecessary accentuated illumination and reducing distraction of the driver caused by unnecessary accentuated illumination.

[0056] 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the headlight control device 1 according to the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, the functions of the first object determination unit 11, the second object determination unit 12, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, the emphasis illumination control unit 14, and a control unit (not shown) are realized by a processing circuit 1001. That is, the headlight control device 1 includes the processing circuit 1001 for performing illumination control taking into consideration whether an object present ahead of the vehicle is difficult for the driver to see, based on the sensor information acquired from the edge detection device 2 and the captured image acquired from the visible light camera 3. The processing circuit 1001 may be dedicated hardware as shown in FIG. 3A, or a processor 1004 that executes a program stored in a memory 1005 as shown in FIG. 3B.

[0057] If the processing circuit 1001 is dedicated hardware, the processing circuit 1001 may be, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or a combination thereof.

[0058] When the processing circuit is the processor 1004, the functions of the first object determination unit 11, the second object determination unit 12, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, the emphasis illumination control unit 14, and a control unit (not shown) are realized by software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware. The software or firmware is written as a program and stored in the memory 1005. The processor 1004 reads and executes the program stored in the memory 1005, thereby executing the functions of the first object determination unit 11, the second object determination unit 12, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, the emphasis illumination control unit 14, and a control unit (not shown). In other words, the headlight control device 1 includes the memory 1005 for storing a program that, when executed by the processor 1004, results in the execution of steps ST201 to ST206 of FIG. 2 described above. The program stored in the memory 1005 can also be said to cause the computer to execute the procedures or methods of the processing of the first object determination unit 11, the second object determination unit 12, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, the emphasis illumination control unit 14, and a control unit (not shown). Here, the memory 1005 corresponds to, for example, a non-volatile or volatile semiconductor memory such as a RAM, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a flash memory, an EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), or an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical disk, a compact disk, a mini disk, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), and the like.

[0059] It should be noted that the functions of the first object determination unit 11, the second object determination unit 12, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, the emphasis illumination control unit 14, and a control unit (not shown) may be partially realized by dedicated hardware and partially realized by software or firmware. For example, the functions of the first object determination unit 11 and the second object determination unit 12 may be realized by a processing circuit 1001 as dedicated hardware, and the functions of the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, the emphasis illumination control unit 14, and a control unit (not shown) may be realized by a processor 1004 reading and executing a program stored in a memory 1005. The headlight control device 1 also includes an input interface device 1002 and an output interface device 1003 that perform wired or wireless communication with devices such as the edge detection device 2, the visible light camera 3, or the headlight 4.

[0060] In the first embodiment described above, the headlight control device 1 is an on-board device mounted on a vehicle, and the first object determination unit 11, the second object determination unit 12, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, the emphasis illumination control unit 14, and a control unit (not shown) are provided in the on-board device. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is also possible that some of the first object determination unit 11, the second object determination unit 12, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, the emphasis illumination control unit 14, and a control unit (not shown) are provided in the on-board device of the vehicle, and the rest are provided in a server or a mobile terminal such as a smartphone connected to the on-board device via a network. Furthermore, the first object determination unit 11, the second object determination unit 12, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, the emphasis illumination control unit 14, and a control unit (not shown) may all be provided in the server or the mobile terminal such as a smartphone.

[0061] In the first embodiment described above, it is assumed that the headlight control device 1 controls the highlighted illumination of the headlights 4 provided in a vehicle, but this is merely an example. The headlight control device 1 can also be applied as a headlight control device 1 that controls the highlighted illumination of the headlights 4 provided in a moving body other than a vehicle, such as an electric kick scooter or a Segway.

[0062] As described above, the headlight control device 1 according to the first embodiment is configured to include: a first object determination unit 11 that determines whether or not an object that is estimated to be a target for the driver to view is present ahead of the moving body, based on sensor information output from the edge detection device 2 that detects objects present ahead of the moving body; a second object determination unit 12 that determines whether or not an object is present ahead of the moving body, based on an image captured by the visible light camera 3 that captures an image ahead of the moving body; an emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that determines that emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognized object, when the first object determination unit 11 determines that an object is present but the second object determination unit 12 does not determine that an object that is estimated to be the first recognized object that the first object determination unit 11 has determined to exist is present; and an emphasis illumination control unit 14 that, in response to the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognized object, causes the headlights 4 provided on the moving body to perform emphasis illumination for the first recognized object. Therefore, the headlight control device 1 can perform lighting control taking into consideration whether an object (target object) present in front of the vehicle is difficult for the driver to see. The headlight control device 1 can increase the driver's recognition rate of the object (first recognition object), and can prevent the driver from colliding with the object or from making sudden steering or braking movements. Furthermore, the headlight control device 1 does not perform accentuated illumination on objects that are estimated to be easily recognized by the driver even without accentuated illumination, thereby reducing unnecessary accentuated illumination and reducing the driver's distraction caused by unnecessary accentuated illumination.

[0063] Embodiment 2. In embodiment 1, the headlight control device determines whether or not to cause the headlights to perform accentuated illumination on the first recognition object, and if it determines to perform accentuated illumination, performs illumination control to cause the headlights to perform accentuated illumination on the first recognition object (first illumination control process). In embodiment 2, an embodiment will be described in which the headlight control device determines to perform accentuated illumination on the first recognition object, performs illumination control to cause the headlights to perform accentuated illumination on the first recognition object, and then performs headlight illumination control according to the situation after performing the illumination control.

[0064] An example configuration of the headlight control device 1 according to the second embodiment is the same as the example configuration of the headlight control device 1 according to the first embodiment described using Fig. 1 in the first embodiment, and therefore a duplicated description will be omitted. The headlight control device 1 according to the second embodiment differs from the headlight control device 1 according to the first embodiment in the details of the processing performed by the second object determination unit 12, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, and the emphasis illumination control unit 14. Like the headlight control device 1 according to the first embodiment, the headlight control device 1 according to the second embodiment is mounted on a vehicle, determines the presence or absence of an object present in front of the vehicle, and controls the illumination of the headlights 4 onto the object by taking into account whether the object is difficult for the driver of the vehicle to see.

[0065] In the second embodiment, the second object determination unit 12 determines whether or not an object exists ahead of the vehicle, and determines the type of the object, based on the captured image output from the visible light camera 3. In the second embodiment, the type of object determined by the second object determination unit 12 is, for example, a dynamic object, a static object, or a road structure. Dynamic objects include people, automobiles, bicycles, animals, small mobility vehicles, etc. Static objects are assumed to be stationary objects other than dynamic objects. Specific examples of road structures are assumed to be utility poles, walls, guardrails, medians, plants, etc. The second object determination unit 12 may use, for example, known image recognition technology to determine whether or not an object exists from the captured image, and, if an object exists, the type of the object.

[0066] The second object determination unit 12 may, for example, determine whether an object exists and the type of the object using a machine learning model that receives a captured image as input and outputs information regarding the presence or absence of an object and the type of the object, or may determine whether an object exists and the type of the object in accordance with image object detection conditions. In the second embodiment, the machine learning model receives a captured image as input and is trained to output information regarding the presence or absence of an object and the type of the object. Furthermore, the image object detection conditions may define, for example, the size (width) and type of the object.

[0067] For example, when a machine learning model is used, the second object determination unit 12 inputs the captured image output from the visible light camera 3 into the machine learning model to obtain information regarding the presence or absence of an object and the type of the object, thereby determining whether or not an object exists and the type of the object. For example, when image object detection conditions are used, the second object determination unit 12 performs image recognition processing on the captured image and determines whether or not an object that meets the image object detection conditions exists, thereby determining whether or not an object exists and the type of the object. The second object determination unit 12 generates a second object determination result. In the second embodiment, the second object determination result includes information indicating the presence or absence of an object, information indicating the position of the object if present, the captured image acquired by the second object determination unit 12 from the visible light camera 3, and information indicating the type of the object. The second object determination unit 12 outputs the generated second object determination result to the emphasis illumination determination unit 13.

[0068] In the second embodiment, in addition to performing the "first illumination control process" performed in the first embodiment, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 and the emphasis illumination control unit 14 cause the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognition object, and then, if the object determined to be present by the second object determination unit 12 and estimated to be the first recognition object is an object that is not a target for emphasis illumination (hereinafter referred to as an "illumination exclusion target"), determine to stop emphasis illumination on the first recognition object and perform a process to cause the headlights 4 to stop emphasis illumination on the first recognition object. In the second embodiment, the process performed by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 and the emphasis illumination control unit 14 to stop emphasis illumination on the first recognition object is referred to as a "second illumination control process." Details of the "second illumination control process" will be described.

[0069] <Second Illumination Control Process> The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 performs a camera recognition feasibility determination. The specific content of the camera recognition feasibility determination performed by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 in Embodiment 2 is the same as the specific content of the camera recognition feasibility determination already explained in Embodiment 1, so a duplicated explanation will be omitted. If, as a result of performing the camera recognition feasibility determination, the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object estimated to be the first recognition object exists, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines whether the first recognition object is under emphasis illumination. An example of a method for determining whether the first recognition object is under emphasis illumination has been explained in Embodiment 1, so a duplicated explanation will be omitted.

[0070] <An Object Estimated to be the First Recognized Object Exists and is Being Emphasized> When the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists and determines that the first recognized object is being emphasized, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines whether the first recognized object is an object excluded from illumination. The object excluded from illumination is, for example, a road structure or a static object located next to the vehicle's own lane. The area adjacent to the vehicle's own lane includes, for example, an adjacent lane to the vehicle's own lane, a roadside strip next to the vehicle's own lane, or a sidewalk next to the vehicle's own lane, and is assumed to be a location close to the vehicle's own lane. The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 can determine whether the first recognized object is a road structure based on the first object determination result. As described above, the first object determination result includes information indicating the type of object. Furthermore, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 may determine an area adjacent to the vehicle's own lane using, for example, a method similar to the method used by the first object determination unit 11 to determine an area close to the vehicle's own lane, as described in the first embodiment. Furthermore, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 can determine whether the first recognition object is a static object based on the first object determination result.

[0071] The irradiation exclusion targets are appropriately set by, for example, an administrator, etc. The administrator, etc. sets, as irradiation exclusion targets, objects that are assumed to be difficult for the driver to see but are unlikely to cause an unexpected incident such as a vehicle collision, and stores information about the irradiation exclusion targets in a location that can be referenced by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13.

[0072] When the first object to be recognized is a target to be excluded from irradiation, the emphasis irradiation determination unit 13 determines to stop emphasis irradiation of the first object to be recognized.

[0073] When the second object determination unit 12 determines that there is an object estimated to be the first recognized object, and the first recognized object is being highlighted, this means that it was previously estimated that the first recognized object was difficult for the driver to see, and the highlighted illumination determination unit 13 determined that the first recognized object should be highlighted. Then, the highlighted illumination determination unit 13 caused the headlights 4 to highlight the first recognized object via the highlighted illumination control unit 14, and now the second object determination unit 12 also determines that the first recognized object exists. This means that the first recognized object has also become recognized by the visible light camera 3, in other words, the first recognized object is no longer difficult for the driver to see.

[0074] However, even if the first recognition object that is no longer difficult for the driver to see is an object that is difficult for the driver to see, there is no problem. Conversely, there is a possibility that the driver's attention will be distracted by highlighting the first recognition object. For example, at a T-junction, an intersection, or a curve, there is a possibility that a road structure is present in the direction of travel of the vehicle, and the road structure may become the first recognition object. However, even if the road structure is difficult for the driver to see, it is assumed that there is a low possibility that the vehicle will be involved in an unexpected incident such as a collision. Conversely, highlighting the road structure may result in unnecessary highlighting and may distract the driver.

[0075] When the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object estimated to be the first recognized object is present, the first recognized object is being subjected to accent illumination, and the first recognized object is an object excluded from illumination, the accent illumination determination unit 13 determines to discontinue accent illumination of the first recognized object. The accent illumination determination unit 13 then outputs an instruction to discontinue accent illumination of the first recognized object (hereinafter referred to as "accent illumination discontinue instruction information") to the accent illumination control unit 14. When the accent illumination discontinue instruction information is output from the accent illumination determination unit 13, in other words, in response to the determination result by the accent illumination determination unit 13 that accent illumination of the first recognized object should be discontinued, the accent illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to discontinue accent illumination of the first recognized object. When the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists, and when the first recognized object is being highlighted and is an object excluded from illumination, the highlight illumination determination unit 13 determines to stop highlight illumination of the first recognized object, and causes the headlights 4 to stop highlight illumination of the first recognized object via the highlight illumination control unit 14, thereby reducing the driver's distraction caused by unnecessary highlight illumination.

[0076] If the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object estimated to be the first recognition object exists, and if the first recognition object is not an object excluded from illumination even when the first recognition object is being highlighted, the highlight illumination determination unit 13 determines to continue highlight illumination of the first recognition object. The highlight illumination control unit 14 continues to cause the headlights 4 to highlight illumination of the first recognition object.

[0077] <An object estimated to be the first recognized object is present, but accent illumination is not being performed> If the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object estimated to be the first recognized object is present, but determines that accent illumination is not being performed on the first recognized object, the accent illumination determination unit 13 determines that accent illumination is not required for the first recognized object. If the first recognized object is not being illuminated with accent illumination, the first recognized object is an object that can be recognized by the visible light camera 3 without accent illumination; in other words, it is an object that is not difficult for the driver to see, or it can be said that the first recognized object has already been determined not to require accent illumination. In this case, the accent illumination determination unit 13 outputs accent illumination unnecessary information to the accent illumination control unit 14. When the accent illumination unnecessary information is output from the accent illumination determination unit 13, in other words, in response to the determination result by the accent illumination determination unit 13 that accent illumination is unnecessary, the accent illumination control unit 14 does not control accent illumination for the headlights 4.

[0078] The headlight control device 1 according to the second embodiment performs the "second illumination control process" as described above.

[0079] Furthermore, in the second embodiment, in addition to performing the "first illumination control process" performed in the first embodiment, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 and the emphasis illumination control unit 14 perform a process of causing the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the road surface between the first recognized object and the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the "target road surface") in addition to the first recognized object when it is determined that there is no change in the determination result by the second object determination unit 12 as to whether or not an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists before and after causing the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object. The process of causing the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 and the emphasis illumination control unit 14 to perform emphasis illumination on the target road surface in the second embodiment is referred to as the "third illumination control process." The "third illumination control process" will be described in detail.

[0080] <Third illumination control process> If, as a result of performing a camera recognition determination, the second object determination unit 12 determines that the first object determination unit 11 has determined that an object exists, but the second object determination unit 12 has not determined that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines whether the first recognized object is being emphasized.

[0081] <No Object Estimated as the First Recognized Object and Emphasis Illumination in Progress> When the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object estimated to be the first recognized object is not present even though the first object determination unit 11 has determined that an object is present, and determines that the first recognized object is being emphasized, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that emphasis illumination is necessary for the target road surface in addition to the first recognized object. The fact that the first recognized object is being emphasized means that the second object determination unit 12 previously did not determine that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists, estimated that the first recognized object is difficult for the driver to see, and determined that emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognized object. However, the second object determination unit 12 now does not determine that an object estimated to be the first recognized object is present. That is, the determination result by the second object determination unit 12 as to whether or not an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists remains unchanged before and after the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object. This means that the first recognized object was still not recognized by the visible light camera 3; in other words, the first recognized object is still difficult for the driver to see. In other words, it is estimated that emphasis illumination of the first recognized object has not been very effective. Therefore, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines to perform emphasis illumination on the target road surface in addition to the first recognized object, which is the emphasis illumination target. This is intended to make it easier for the driver to recognize the first recognized object. The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 outputs emphasis illumination instruction information to the emphasis illumination control unit 14, which causes emphasis illumination of the first recognized object and the target road surface. The emphasis illumination instruction information includes information indicating that emphasis illumination is required for the first recognized object and the target road surface, as well as the first object determination result.

[0082] When emphasis illumination instruction information is output from the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, in other words, when the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognized object and the target road surface, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination for the first recognized object and the target road surface.

[0083] The emphasis illumination control unit 14 determines the left-right range of the light that will be used to highlight the first recognized object and the target road surface. Based on the sensor information, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 can determine the position and width of the first recognized object. Based on the sensor information, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 can also determine the relative distance and relative angle between the first recognized object and the edge detection device 2. Because the positional relationship between the installation positions of the headlights 4 and the edge detection device 2 is known in advance, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 can determine the left-right range of the light that the headlights 4 will use to highlight the target road surface. After determining the left-right range of the light that the headlights 4 will use to highlight the first recognized object and the target road surface, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 converts emphasis illumination control information for causing the headlights 4 to perform highlight illumination into an output format compatible with the headlights 4, and outputs the converted emphasis illumination control information to the headlights 4. Here, too, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 may determine an up-down range in addition to a left-right range for the range of light for highlighting the first recognized object and the target road surface. The emphasis illumination control unit 14 outputs emphasis illumination control information to the headlights 4 using an in-vehicle network such as CAN, LIN, lexRay, or CAN FD. The headlights 4 perform emphasis illumination of the first recognized object and the target road surface in accordance with the emphasis illumination control information output from the emphasis illumination control unit 14. The emphasis illumination control unit 14 may cause each of the left and right lights to perform emphasis illumination of the first recognized object and the target road surface, or may cause either the left or right light to perform emphasis illumination of the first recognized object and the target road surface.

[0084] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the headlights 4 highlighting the target road surface in the second embodiment. FIG. 4 is a top view of the headlights 4 highlighting the target road surface. For convenience, FIG. 4 only illustrates the highlighting of the target road surface, and does not illustrate the illumination of light other than the light that highlights the target road surface. Also, in FIG. 4, as an example, only the right headlight performs highlight illumination. In FIG. 4, the vehicle is indicated by "C," and the first recognized object, which is the highlight illumination target, is indicated by "Ob." When the headlights 4 highlight the first recognized object and the target road surface in accordance with the highlight illumination control information output from the highlight illumination control unit 14, the area indicated by I in FIG. 4 is highlighted.

[0085] In this way, if there is no change in the determination result by the second object determination unit 12 as to whether or not an object presumed to be the first recognized object exists before and after the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object, in other words, if the second object determination unit 12 still does not determine that an object presumed to be the first recognized object exists, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognized object as well as the target road surface, and causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object and the target road surface via the emphasis illumination control unit 14. In this way, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 makes it easier for the driver to recognize the first recognized object.

[0086] The headlight control device 1 according to the second embodiment performs the "third illumination control process" as described above.

[0087] <No object estimated to be the first recognized object is present, and accentuated illumination is not being performed> Note that, when the second object determination unit 12 does not determine that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists, even though the first object determination unit 11 has determined that an object exists, and when the second object determination unit 12 determines that the first recognized object is not being accentuated, the accentuated illumination determination unit 13 determines that accentuated illumination of the first recognized object by the headlights 4 is necessary. This is processing in which, in the “first illumination control processing” already described in the first embodiment, the accentuated illumination determination unit 13 determines, as a result of performing a camera recognition determination, that the second object determination unit 12 did not determine that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists, even though the first object determination unit 11 has determined that an object exists, and causes the headlights 4 to perform accentuated illumination of the first recognized object via the accentuated illumination control unit 14. In this case, it is estimated that the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 has determined for the first time that the first object to be recognized is becoming difficult for the driver to see and that emphasis illumination of the first object to be recognized is necessary.

[0088] The operation of the headlight control device 1 according to the second embodiment will now be described. Fig. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the headlight control device 1 according to the second embodiment. For example, when the headlights 4 are turned on or when it is determined that the surroundings are dark, the headlight control device 1 determines to start illumination control of the headlights 4 and starts the operation shown in the flowchart of Fig. 5. The headlight control device 1 repeats the operation shown in the flowchart of Fig. 5 until, for example, the headlights 4 are turned off, until it is no longer determined that the surroundings are dark, or until the power to the vehicle is turned off.

[0089] The specific contents of the processing of step ST201 and steps ST203 to ST206 in Figure 5 are the same as the specific contents of the processing of step ST201 and steps ST203 to ST206 in Figure 2, which have already been explained in embodiment 1, so the same step numbers are used and duplicate explanations are omitted.

[0090] The second object determination unit 12 determines whether or not an object exists ahead of the vehicle based on the captured image output from the visible light camera 3, and performs second object determination to determine the type of the object (step ST211). The second object determination unit 12 generates a second object determination result and outputs the generated second object determination result to the emphasis illumination determination unit 13.

[0091] If the second object determination unit 12 determines in step ST204 that an object estimated to be the first recognition object exists (if "YES" in step ST204), the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines whether the first recognition object is being emphasized (step ST212).

[0092] If it is determined in step ST212 that the first recognition object is not being subjected to accentuated illumination ("NO" in step ST212), the accentuated illumination determination unit 13 determines that accentuated illumination is unnecessary for the first recognition object. Then, the accentuated illumination determination unit 13 outputs accentuated illumination unnecessary information to the accentuated illumination control unit 14. When the accentuated illumination unnecessary information is output from the accentuated illumination determination unit 13, in other words, in response to the determination result by the accentuated illumination determination unit 13 that accentuated illumination is unnecessary, the accentuated illumination control unit 14 does not control accentuated illumination for the headlights 4.

[0093] If it is determined in step ST212 that the first recognition object is being highlighted ("YES" in step ST212), the highlight illumination determination unit 13 determines whether the first recognition object is an object excluded from illumination (step ST213).

[0094] If it is determined in step ST213 that the first recognition object is an object excluded from illumination ("YES" in step ST213), the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines to discontinue the emphasis illumination for the first recognition object (step ST214). Then, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 outputs emphasis illumination discontinuation instruction information for discontinuing the emphasis illumination for the first recognition object to the emphasis illumination control unit 14. When the emphasis illumination discontinuation instruction information is output from the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, in other words, in response to the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that the emphasis illumination for the first recognition object should be discontinued, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to discontinue the emphasis illumination for the first recognition object.

[0095] If it is determined in step ST213 that the first recognition object is not an object excluded from illumination ("NO" in step ST213), the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines to continue to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognition object. The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 outputs emphasis illumination instruction information for performing emphasis illumination on the first recognition object to the emphasis illumination control unit 14. The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 may not output anything to the emphasis illumination control unit 14. The emphasis illumination control unit 14 continues to output emphasis illumination control information to the headlights 4 for performing emphasis illumination on the emphasis illumination object.

[0096] On the other hand, if the second object determination unit 12 determines in step ST204 that an object estimated to be the first recognized object does not exist ("NO" in step ST204), the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines whether or not emphasis illumination is being performed on the first recognized object (step ST205). If it determines that emphasis illumination is being performed on the first recognized object ("YES" in step ST205), the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that emphasis illumination is required for the target road surface in addition to the first recognized object (step ST215). The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 outputs emphasis illumination instruction information for performing emphasis illumination on the first recognized object and the target road surface to the emphasis illumination control unit 14. When the emphasis illumination instruction information is output from the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, in other words, in response to the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that emphasis illumination is required for the first recognized object and the target road surface, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object and the target road surface. Specifically, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 outputs emphasis illumination control information to the headlights 4 for performing emphasis illumination on the object to be emphasized illuminated and the target road surface.

[0097] The processing of steps ST203 to ST206 in FIG. 5 is processing executed in the "first irradiation control processing", the processing of steps ST212 to ST214 is processing executed in the "second irradiation control processing", and the processing of steps ST205 and ST215 is processing executed in the "third irradiation control processing".

[0098] 5, the processing of step ST201 and the processing of step ST211 are performed in parallel, but this is merely an example. For example, the processing of step ST211 may be performed after the processing of step ST201, or vice versa. It is sufficient that the processing of step ST201 and the processing of step ST211 are performed before the processing of step ST203 is performed.

[0099] In this way, the headlight control device 1 determines whether an object exists ahead of the vehicle based on the sensor information output from the edge detection device 2, and determines whether an object exists ahead of the vehicle based on the captured image captured by the visible light camera 3. If the headlight control device 1 determines that an object exists based on the sensor information but is unable to determine based on the captured image that an object estimated to be the first recognized object determined to exist based on the sensor information exists, the headlight control device 1 determines that accentuated illumination of the first recognized object is necessary. If the headlight control device 1 determines that accentuated illumination of the first recognized object is necessary, the headlight control device 1 controls the headlights 4 to accentuate illumination of the first recognized object. Therefore, the headlight control device 1 can perform lighting control that takes into account whether an object (object) existing ahead of the vehicle is difficult for the driver to see. The headlight control device 1 can increase the driver's recognition rate of the object (first recognized object), prevent a collision with the object, or suppress sudden steering or braking by the driver. Furthermore, the headlight control device 1 does not perform accentuated illumination on objects that are estimated to be easily recognized by the driver even without accentuated illumination, thereby reducing unnecessary accentuated illumination and reducing distraction of the driver caused by unnecessary accentuated illumination.

[0100] Furthermore, if the headlight control device 1 determines that there is no change in the determination result as to whether or not an object estimated to be the first recognition object exists before and after causing the headlights 4 to perform emphasized illumination of the first recognition object, it determines that emphasized illumination of the target road surface is necessary in addition to the first recognition object, and causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasized illumination of the first recognition object and the target road surface. Thus, the headlight control device 1 makes it easier for the driver to recognize the first recognition object.

[0101] Furthermore, when the headlight control device 1 is highlighting the first recognized object and the first recognized object is an object excluded from illumination, the headlight control device 1 stops highlighting the first recognized object. More specifically, after causing the headlights 4 to highlight the first recognized object, if the type of the object estimated to be the first recognized object and determined to exist based on the captured image is a road structure, the headlight control device 1 determines to stop highlighting the first recognized object and causes the headlights 4 to stop highlighting the first recognized object. Furthermore, after causing the headlights 4 to highlight the first recognized object, if the object estimated to be the first recognized object and determined to exist based on the captured image is estimated to exist outside the lane in which the vehicle is traveling and is a stationary object, the headlight control device 1 determines to stop highlighting the first recognized object and causes the headlights 4 to stop highlighting the first recognized object. Therefore, the headlight control device 1 can reduce the driver's distraction caused by unnecessary accentuated illumination.

[0102] The hardware configuration of the headlight control device 1 according to the second embodiment is the same as that shown in the first embodiment using Figures 3A and 3B, and therefore a duplicated description will be omitted. In the embodiment, the headlight control device 1 includes a memory 1005 for storing a program that, when executed by the processing circuit 1001, results in the execution of steps ST201, ST211, ST203 to ST206, and ST212 to ST215 in Figure 5 described above.

[0103] In the second embodiment, as in the first embodiment, some of the first object determination unit 11, the second object determination unit 12, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, the emphasis illumination control unit 14, and a control unit (not shown) may be provided in an in-vehicle device of a vehicle, while the others may be provided in a server connected to the in-vehicle device via a network, or in a mobile terminal such as a smartphone. Also, the first object determination unit 11, the second object determination unit 12, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, the emphasis illumination control unit 14, and a control unit (not shown) may all be provided in a server or a mobile terminal such as a smartphone.

[0104] Furthermore, in the above-described second embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the headlight control device 1 can also be applied as a headlight control device 1 that controls accentuated illumination of headlights 4 installed on a moving body other than a vehicle, such as an electric kick scooter or a Segway.

[0105] As described above, the headlight control device 1 according to the second embodiment is configured to include the first object determination unit 11 that determines whether or not an object that is estimated to be a target for the driver to view is present ahead of the moving body based on sensor information output from the edge detection device 2 that detects objects present ahead of the moving body; the second object determination unit 12 that determines whether or not an object is present ahead of the moving body based on an image captured by the visible light camera 3 that captures an image ahead of the moving body; the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that determines that emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognized object when the first object determination unit 11 determines that an object is present but the second object determination unit 12 does not determine that an object that is estimated to be the first recognized object that the first object determination unit 11 determines to exist is present; and the emphasis illumination control unit 14 that, in response to the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognized object, causes the headlights 4 provided on the moving body to perform emphasis illumination for the first recognized object. Therefore, the headlight control device 1 can perform lighting control taking into consideration whether an object (target object) present in front of the vehicle is difficult for the driver to see. The headlight control device 1 can increase the driver's recognition rate of the object (first recognition object), and can prevent the driver from colliding with the object or from making sudden steering or braking movements. Furthermore, the headlight control device 1 does not perform accentuated illumination on objects that are estimated to be easily recognized by the driver even without accentuated illumination, thereby reducing unnecessary accentuated illumination and reducing the driver's distraction caused by unnecessary accentuated illumination.

[0106] Furthermore, in the headlight control device 1 according to the second embodiment, when the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that there is no change in the determination result by the second object determination unit 12 as to whether or not an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists before and after the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that emphasis illumination is necessary not only for the first recognized object but also for the target road surface between the object and the moving body, and the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object and the target road surface in response to the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that emphasis illumination is necessary for the target road surface in addition to the first recognized object. Thus, the headlight control device 1 enables the driver to easily recognize the first recognized object.

[0107] Furthermore, in the headlight control device 1 according to the second embodiment, the second object determination unit 12 determines whether or not an object exists ahead of the moving vehicle, and determines the type of the object, based on the captured image. After the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object, if the type of the object estimated to be the first recognized object and determined by the second object determination unit 12 to exist is a road structure, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines to discontinue the emphasis illumination on the first recognized object. In response to the determination by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 to discontinue the emphasis illumination on the first recognized object, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to discontinue the emphasis illumination on the first recognized object. This allows the headlight control device 1 to reduce the driver's distraction caused by unnecessary emphasis illumination.

[0108] In the headlight control device 1 according to the second embodiment, the second object determination unit 12 determines whether or not an object exists ahead of the vehicle and determines the type of the object based on the captured image. After the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines to discontinue emphasis illumination for the first recognized object if the object estimated to be the first recognized object by the second object determination unit 12 is estimated to exist outside the lane in which the vehicle is traveling and is a stationary object. In response to the determination by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 to discontinue emphasis illumination for the first recognized object, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to discontinue emphasis illumination for the first recognized object. This allows the headlight control device 1 to reduce driver distraction caused by unnecessary emphasis illumination.

[0109] Embodiment 3. In Embodiment 1, the headlight control device determines whether a first recognition object, determined to exist based on the sensor information output from the edge detection device, is an object estimated to be difficult for the driver to see, based on the captured image output from the visible light camera. That is, in Embodiment 1, the headlight control device determines whether a first recognition object detected by the edge detection device is an object estimated to be difficult for the driver to see, based on whether the visible light camera can recognize the first recognition object. If the visible light camera cannot recognize the first recognition object detected by the edge detection device, the headlight control device determines that the first recognition object is an object estimated to be difficult for the driver to see. However, even if the visible light camera can recognize the first recognition object, if the degree of recognition accuracy is low, the visible light camera may not have correctly recognized the first recognition object, i.e., the driver may not have correctly recognized the first recognition object. In this case, the first recognition object may be an object that is difficult for the driver to see. In the third embodiment, an embodiment will be described in which whether or not an object is estimated to be difficult for the driver to see is determined taking into consideration the degree of certainty of the object in an image captured by a visible light camera.

[0110] An example configuration of the headlight control device 1 according to the third embodiment is the same as the example configuration of the headlight control device 1 according to the first embodiment described using Fig. 1 in the first embodiment, and therefore a duplicated description will be omitted. The headlight control device 1 according to the third embodiment differs from the headlight control device 1 according to the first embodiment in the details of the processing performed by the second object determination unit 12, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, and the emphasis illumination control unit 14. Like the headlight control device 1 according to the first embodiment, the headlight control device 1 according to the third embodiment is mounted on a vehicle, determines the presence or absence of an object present in front of the vehicle, and controls the illumination of the headlights 4 onto the object by taking into consideration whether the object is difficult for the driver of the vehicle to see.

[0111] In the third embodiment, the second object determination unit 12 determines whether or not an object exists ahead of the vehicle, and determines the type of the object, based on the captured image output from the visible light camera 3. Furthermore, if the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object exists, it calculates the reliability of the object determined to exist (i.e., the second recognized object).

[0112] In the third embodiment, the reliability of the second recognition object refers to the degree of certainty of the second recognition object in the captured image captured by the visible light camera 3. More specifically, the reliability of the second recognition object refers to the degree of certainty of the type of the second recognition object determined based on the captured image captured by the visible light camera 3. The higher the reliability, the more certain the type of the second recognition object in the captured image is; in other words, the more accurately the second object determination unit 12 can determine the type of the second recognition object. In the following description, when simply referring to the "reliability of the object" or "reliability of the second recognition object," this means the "reliability of the type of the object" or "reliability of the type of the second recognition object." Note that it is assumed that the type of the object determined by the second object determination unit 12 in the third embodiment is the same type as the type of the object determined by the second object determination unit 12 in the second embodiment.

[0113] The second object determination unit 12, for example, receives a captured image as input and uses a machine learning model that outputs information regarding whether an object exists, the type of the object, and the reliability of the object to determine whether an object exists and the type of the object, and calculates the reliability of the object. In the third embodiment, the machine learning model receives a captured image as input and is trained to output information regarding whether an object exists, the type of the object, and the reliability of the object. For example, when using a machine learning model, the second object determination unit 12 inputs a captured image output from the visible light camera 3 into the machine learning model to obtain information regarding whether an object exists, the type of the object, and the reliability of the object, thereby determining whether an object exists and the type of the object and calculating the reliability of the object.

[0114] The second object determination unit 12 may determine whether an object exists and the type of the object according to, for example, image object detection conditions, and may also calculate the reliability of the object. In the third embodiment, the image object detection conditions define, for example, the size (width) and type of the object. Furthermore, the image object detection conditions define, for example, conditions for calculating the reliability of the object based on the size (width) and pixel value (brightness) of the object.

[0115] The second object determination unit 12 generates a second object determination result. In the second embodiment, the second object determination result includes information indicating the presence or absence of an object, and if an object is present, information indicating the position of the object, the captured image acquired by the second object determination unit 12 from the visible light camera 3, information indicating the type of the object, and the reliability of the object. The second object determination unit 12 outputs the generated second object determination result to the emphasis illumination determination unit 13.

[0116] In the third embodiment, in addition to performing the "first illumination control process" performed in the first embodiment, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 and the emphasis illumination control unit 14 perform a process of determining that emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognized object when the reliability of an object estimated to be the first recognized object and determined by the second object determination unit 12 to exist is less than a preset threshold (hereinafter referred to as the "reliability determination threshold"). In the third embodiment, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 and the emphasis illumination control unit 14 perform, in addition to the "first illumination control process," emphasis illumination for the first recognized object when the reliability of an object estimated to be the first recognized object and determined by the second object determination unit 12 to exist is less than the reliability determination threshold, which is referred to as the "fourth illumination control process." Details of the "fourth illumination control process" will be described.

[0117] <Fourth Illumination Control Process> The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 performs a camera recognition feasibility determination. The specific content of the camera recognition feasibility determination performed by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 in Embodiment 3 is the same as the specific content of the camera recognition feasibility determination described in Embodiment 1, so a duplicated description will be omitted. When the second object determination unit 12 determines, as a result of the camera recognition feasibility determination, that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines whether the reliability of the object (i.e., the second recognized object) calculated by the second object determination unit 12 is equal to or greater than a reliability determination threshold. Based on the second object determination result, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 can identify the reliability of the second recognized object calculated by the second object determination unit 12. The reliability determination threshold is set in advance by an administrator or the like and stored in a location accessible to the emphasis illumination determination unit 13. The administrator or the like sets a reliability determination threshold value at which it is considered that the second object determination unit 12 can adequately determine the type of object. If the second object determination unit 12 can adequately determine the type of object, the type of the object is likely to be accurate; in other words, it can be said that the object is captured in an image that is sufficiently recognizable by the second object determination unit 12. If the object is captured in an image that is sufficiently recognizable by the second object determination unit 12, it can be said that there is a high possibility that the visible light camera 3 has correctly recognized the object.

[0118] <An object estimated to be the first recognized object exists and the reliability is above the threshold> If the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists and the reliability of the object (second recognized object) calculated by the second object determination unit 12 is above the reliability determination threshold, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 terminates the processing.

[0119] <An object estimated to be the first recognized object is present and the reliability is less than a threshold> When the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object estimated to be the first recognized object is present and the reliability of the object (second recognized object) calculated by the second object determination unit 12 is less than a reliability determination threshold, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that emphasis illumination of the first recognized object by the headlights 4 is necessary. In this case, it can be said that the visible light camera 3 is not able to recognize the object estimated to be the first recognized object accurately enough. When the visible light camera 3 is not able to recognize the object estimated to be the first recognized object accurately enough, it can be said that it is difficult for the driver to accurately recognize the first recognized object; in other words, it can be said that it is difficult for the driver to see the first recognized object. The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 outputs emphasis illumination instruction information to the emphasis illumination control unit 14 to perform emphasis illumination of the first recognized object. The emphasis illumination instruction information includes information indicating that emphasis illumination of the first recognized object is necessary and the first object determination result. When emphasis illumination instruction information is output from the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, in other words, in response to the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognition object, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination for the first recognition object. The method for causing the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination for the first recognition object when emphasis illumination instruction information for performing emphasis illumination for the first recognition object is output from the emphasis illumination control unit 14 has already been explained in the first embodiment, and therefore a duplicate explanation will be omitted.

[0120] <No Object Estimated to be the First Recognized Object> Note that, if the first object determination unit 11 determines that an object exists but the second object determination unit 12 does not determine that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that emphasis illumination of the first recognized object is necessary and causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination of the first recognized object via the emphasis illumination control unit 14. This is processing in which, in the “first illumination control processing” already described in the first embodiment, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines, as a result of performing a camera recognition determination, that the second object determination unit 12 did not determine that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists, and causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination of the first recognized object via the emphasis illumination control unit 14.

[0121] The operation of the headlight control device 1 according to the third embodiment will now be described. Fig. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the headlight control device 1 according to the third embodiment. For example, when the headlights 4 are turned on or when it is determined that the surroundings are dark, the headlight control device 1 determines to start illumination control of the headlights 4 and starts the operation shown in the flowchart of Fig. 6. The headlight control device 1 repeats the operation shown in the flowchart of Fig. 6 until, for example, the headlights 4 are turned off, until it is no longer determined that the surroundings are dark, or until the power to the vehicle is turned off.

[0122] The specific contents of the processing of step ST201 and steps ST203 to ST206 in Figure 6 are the same as the specific contents of the processing of step ST201 and steps ST203 to ST206 in Figure 2, which have already been explained in embodiment 1, so the same step numbers are used and duplicate explanations are omitted.

[0123] In step ST221, the second object determination unit 12 determines whether or not an object exists ahead of the vehicle based on the captured image output from the visible light camera 3, determines the type of the object, and calculates the reliability of the object determined to exist (second recognized object) (step ST221). The second object determination unit 12 generates a second object determination result and outputs the generated second object determination result to the emphasis illumination determination unit 13.

[0124] If the second object determination unit 12 determines in step ST204 that there is an object that is estimated to be the first recognized object (if "YES" in step ST204), the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines whether the reliability of the object (second recognized object) calculated by the second object determination unit 12 is equal to or greater than the reliability determination threshold (step ST222).

[0125] If it is determined in step ST222 that the reliability of the second recognition object is less than the reliability determination threshold ("NO" in step ST222), the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines whether the first recognition object is currently being emphasized (step ST223). If it is determined in step ST223 that the first recognition object is not currently being emphasized ("NO" in step ST223), the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that emphasis illumination of the first recognition object by the headlights 4 is necessary (step ST227). Then, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 outputs emphasis illumination instruction information for performing emphasis illumination of the first recognition object to the emphasis illumination control unit 14. When the emphasis illumination instruction information is output from the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination of the first recognition object, which is the emphasis illumination object. Specifically, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 determines the range of light to be emitted by the headlight 4 in the left-right direction for emphasis illumination, and outputs emphasis illumination control information for causing the headlight 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object to the headlight 4. Note that the emphasis illumination control unit 14 may determine the range of light to be emitted by the headlight 4 in the up-down direction in addition to the range in the left-right direction for emphasis illumination of the first recognized object and the target road surface.

[0126] If it is determined in step ST222 that the reliability of the second object to be recognized is equal to or greater than the reliability determination threshold (if "YES" in step ST222), or if the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines in step ST223 that the first object to be recognized is being emphasized (if "YES" in step ST223), the headlight control device 1 terminates the processing shown in the flowchart of Figure 6.

[0127] The processing of steps ST203 to ST206 in FIG. 6 is processing executed in the "first irradiation control processing", and the processing of steps ST203 to ST204, steps ST222 to ST223, and step ST227 is processing executed in the "fourth irradiation control processing".

[0128] 6, the process of step ST201 and the process of step ST221 are performed in parallel, but this is merely an example. For example, the process of step ST221 may be performed after the process of step ST201, or vice versa. It is sufficient that the process of step ST201 and the process of step ST221 are performed before the process of step ST203 is performed.

[0129] 6, the determination in step ST223 is performed, but the headlight control device 1 does not necessarily perform the determination in step ST223. The headlight control device 1 may cause the headlights 4 to perform emphasized illumination of the first recognized object when it determines that the reliability of the object calculated by the second object determination unit 12 is less than the reliability determination threshold (in the case of "NO" in step ST222).

[0130] In this way, the headlight control device 1 determines whether or not an object exists ahead of the vehicle based on the sensor information output from the edge detection device 2, and determines whether or not an object exists ahead of the vehicle and the type of the object based on the captured image captured by the visible light camera 3. If the headlight control device 1 determines that an object exists based on the sensor information but is unable to determine based on the captured image that an object estimated to be the first recognized object determined to exist based on the sensor information exists, or if the reliability of the type of the object estimated to be the first recognized object determined to exist based on the captured image is less than a reliability determination threshold, the headlight control device 1 determines that enhanced illumination of the first recognized object is necessary. If the headlight control device 1 determines that enhanced illumination of the first recognized object is necessary, it controls the headlights 4 to enhance illumination of the first recognized object. Therefore, the headlight control device 1 can perform lighting control that takes into account whether an object (object) ahead of the vehicle is difficult for the driver to see. The headlight control device 1 can increase the recognition rate of an object (first recognition object) for the driver, and can also prevent a collision with the object or suppress sudden steering or braking by the driver. Furthermore, the headlight control device 1 does not perform accentuated illumination on objects that are estimated to be easily recognized by the driver even without accentuated illumination, thereby reducing unnecessary accentuated illumination and reducing distraction of the driver due to unnecessary accentuated illumination.

[0131] The hardware configuration of the headlight control device 1 according to the third embodiment is the same as that shown in the first embodiment using Figures 3A and 3B, and therefore a duplicated description will be omitted. In the embodiment, the headlight control device 1 includes a memory 1005 for storing a program that, when executed by the processing circuit 1001, results in the execution of steps ST201, ST221, ST203 to ST206, ST222 to ST223, and ST227 in Figure 6 described above.

[0132] In the third embodiment, as in the first embodiment, some of the first object determination unit 11, the second object determination unit 12, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, the emphasis illumination control unit 14, and a control unit (not shown) may be provided in an in-vehicle device of a vehicle, while the others may be provided in a server connected to the in-vehicle device via a network, or in a mobile terminal such as a smartphone. Also, the first object determination unit 11, the second object determination unit 12, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, the emphasis illumination control unit 14, and a control unit (not shown) may all be provided in a server or a mobile terminal such as a smartphone.

[0133] Furthermore, in the above-described third embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the headlight control device 1 can also be applied as a headlight control device 1 that controls accentuated illumination of headlights 4 installed on a moving body other than a vehicle, such as an electric kick scooter or a Segway.

[0134] As described above, the headlight control device 1 according to the third embodiment includes a first object determination unit 11 that determines whether or not there is an object ahead of the moving body that is estimated to be a visual target for the driver, based on sensor information output from the edge detection device 2 that detects an object present ahead of the moving body; a second object determination unit 12 that determines whether or not there is an object ahead of the moving body, based on an image captured by the visible light camera 3 that captures an image ahead of the moving body; and a second object determination unit 12 that determines whether or not there is an object ahead of the moving body, based on an image captured by the visible light camera 3 that captures an image .... The headlight control device 1 is configured to include an emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that determines that emphasis illumination of the first recognized object is necessary when the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists but does not, or when the reliability of the type of the object estimated to be the first recognized object determined to exist by the second object determination unit 12 is less than a reliability determination threshold, and an emphasis illumination control unit 14 that, in response to the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that emphasis illumination of the first recognized object is necessary, causes the headlights 4 provided on the vehicle to perform emphasis illumination of the first recognized object. Therefore, the headlight control device 1 can perform lighting control taking into account whether an object (object) present in front of the vehicle is difficult for the driver to see. The headlight control device 1 can increase the recognition rate of the object (first recognized object) for the driver, and can prevent a collision with the object or suppress sudden steering or braking by the driver. Furthermore, the headlight control device 1 does not perform accentuated illumination on objects that are estimated to be easily recognized by the driver even without accentuated illumination, thereby reducing unnecessary accentuated illumination and reducing distraction of the driver caused by unnecessary accentuated illumination.

[0135] Embodiment 4. In embodiment 3, the headlight control device determines whether or not to cause the headlights to perform accentuated illumination on the first recognition object, and if it determines to perform accentuated illumination, performs illumination control to cause the headlights to perform accentuated illumination on the first recognition object (first illumination control process, fourth illumination control process). In embodiment 4, an embodiment will be described in which the headlight control device determines to perform accentuated illumination on the first recognition object, performs illumination control to cause the headlights to perform accentuated illumination on the first recognition object, and then performs headlight illumination control according to the situation after performing the illumination control.

[0136] An example configuration of the headlight control device 1 according to the fourth embodiment is similar to the example configuration of the headlight control device 1 according to the third embodiment, i.e., the example configuration of the headlight control device 1 according to the first embodiment described using Fig. 1 in the first embodiment, and therefore a duplicated description will be omitted. The headlight control device 1 according to the fourth embodiment differs from the headlight control device 1 according to the third embodiment in the details of the processing performed by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 and the emphasis illumination control unit 14. Like the headlight control device 1 according to the third embodiment, the headlight control device 1 according to the fourth embodiment is mounted on a vehicle, determines the presence or absence of an object present in front of the vehicle, and controls the illumination of the object by the headlights 4, taking into account whether the object is difficult for the driver of the vehicle to see.

[0137] In the fourth embodiment, in addition to performing the "first illumination control process" and the "fourth illumination control process" performed in the fourth embodiment, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 and the emphasis illumination control unit 14 perform the following processes: if the reliability of an object estimated to be the first recognized object (i.e., the second recognized object) determined to exist by the second object determination unit 12 after having caused the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object decreases, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 and the emphasis illumination control unit 14 determine to stop the emphasis illumination on the first recognized object and to perform emphasis illumination on the target road surface, and cause the headlights 4 to stop the emphasis illumination on the first recognized object and perform emphasis illumination on the target road surface. Furthermore, if the reliability of an object estimated to be the first recognized object (i.e., the second recognized object) determined to exist by the second object determination unit 12 does not increase after having caused the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the target road surface, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 and the emphasis illumination control unit 14 determine to stop the emphasis illumination on the target road surface, and cause the headlights 4 to stop the emphasis illumination on the target road surface. In the fourth embodiment, the accentuation illumination determination unit 13 and the accentuation illumination control unit 14 perform, in addition to the "first illumination control process" and the "fourth illumination control process," a process in which, when the reliability of the second recognition object has decreased, accentuation illumination for the first recognition object is stopped and accentuation illumination for the target road surface is performed, and when the reliability of the second recognition object has not increased thereafter, accentuation illumination for the target road surface is also stopped. This process is referred to as a "fifth illumination control process." Details of the "fifth illumination control process" will be described below.

[0138] <Fifth Illumination Control Process> The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 performs a camera recognition feasibility determination. The specific content of the camera recognition feasibility determination performed by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 in Embodiment 4 is similar to the specific content of the camera recognition feasibility determination performed by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 in Embodiment 3, i.e., the camera recognition feasibility determination already explained in Embodiment 1, and therefore a duplicated explanation will be omitted. If the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines, as a result of the camera recognition feasibility determination, that the second object determination unit 12 has determined that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines whether the reliability of the object (i.e., the second recognized object) is equal to or greater than a reliability determination threshold.

[0139] <There is an object estimated to be the first recognition object and it is less than the reliability threshold> If the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that the reliability of the second recognition object is not equal to or greater than the reliability determination threshold, i.e., the reliability of the second recognition object is less than the reliability determination threshold, it determines whether the first recognition object is being emphasized illuminated.

[0140] <Object Presumed to be First Recognition Object Present, Reliability Less than Threshold, and Emphasis Illumination in Progress> When the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object presumed to be the first recognition object exists, that the reliability of the object is less than the reliability determination threshold, and that the first recognition object is being emphasized, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 compares the reliability of the object (second recognition object) calculated by the second object determination unit 12 with the reliability of the object (second recognition object) previously calculated by the second object determination unit 12. Then, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines whether the reliability of the object (second recognition object) has increased, remained unchanged, or decreased compared to the reliability previously calculated.

[0141] For example, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 stores a history of second object determination results output from the second object determination unit 12. The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 then obtains the reliability of the second recognized object calculated previously by the second object determination unit 12 from the stored history of second object determination results. The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 then compares the reliability of the second recognized object based on the latest second object determination result output from the second object determination unit 12 with the reliability of the second recognized object calculated previously by the second object determination unit 12, and determines whether the reliability of the second recognized object has increased, remained unchanged, or decreased. After performing the comparison described above, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 clears the stored second object determination result and updates the history of second object determination results with the latest second object determination result output from the second object determination unit 12. The history of second object determination results is cleared after a certain period of time has elapsed or when the headlight control device 1 is turned off.

[0142] <Reliability Changes Positively> When the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that the reliability of the second recognized object has increased, it determines to continue to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object. The emphasis illumination control unit 14 continues to cause the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object. The increase in the reliability of the second recognized object is presumed to mean that the effect of emphasis illumination on the first recognized object has been achieved; in other words, it is presumed that the first recognized object has become easier to see for the driver. The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 continues to determine that emphasis illumination on the first recognized object is necessary, and causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object via the emphasis illumination control unit 14, thereby maintaining the first recognized object being easier to see for the driver.

[0143] <No Change in Reliability> If the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that the reliability of the second recognized object has not changed, it determines that emphasis illumination of the target road surface is necessary in addition to the first recognized object. The fact that the first recognized object is being emphasized means that it was previously estimated that the first recognized object was difficult for the driver to see, and the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determined that emphasis illumination of the first recognized object was necessary. However, the second object determination unit 12 now determines that there is an object estimated to be the first recognized object (i.e., the second recognized object), but its reliability has not changed. This indicates that the emphasis illumination of the first recognized object has not been effective, i.e., it is difficult to say that the first recognized object has become easier for the driver to see. Therefore, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that emphasis illumination of the target road surface is necessary in addition to the first recognized object. This is intended to make it easier for the driver to recognize the first recognized object. The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 outputs emphasis illumination instruction information for performing emphasis illumination on the first recognized object and the target road surface to the emphasis illumination control unit 14. The emphasis illumination instruction information includes information indicating that emphasis illumination is required on the first recognized object and the target road surface, and the first object determination result.

[0144] When the emphasis illumination instruction information is output from the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, in other words, when the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognized object and the target road surface, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination for the first recognized object and the target road surface. A specific example of the method by which the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination for the emphasis illumination object and the target road surface has been explained in the second embodiment, and therefore a duplicate explanation will be omitted.

[0145] If there is no change in the reliability of the second recognized object before and after the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that emphasis illumination is necessary on the target road surface in addition to the first recognized object, and makes it easier for the driver to recognize the first recognized object by causing the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object and the target road surface via the emphasis illumination control unit 14.

[0146] <Reliability Changes Negatively> When the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that the reliability of the second recognized object has decreased, it determines to stop the emphasis illumination for the first recognized object and to perform emphasis illumination for the target road surface. The fact that the first recognized object is being emphasized means that it was previously estimated that the first recognized object was difficult for the driver to see, and the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determined that the first recognized object should be emphasized. Then, because the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 caused the headlights 4 to emphasize the first recognized object via the emphasis illumination control unit 14, the second object determination unit 12 now determines that the object estimated to be the first recognized object is present. Nevertheless, if the reliability of the second recognized object has decreased, it is estimated that the emphasis illumination for the first recognized object was counterproductive, in other words, that the first recognized object has become even more difficult for the driver to see. An example of a case in which accentuated illumination of the first recognized object has an adverse effect is when the light from the accentuated headlights 4 is reflected by the first recognized object. In this case, the accentuated illumination determination unit 13 excludes the first recognized object from the target of accentuated illumination and determines that the target road surface should be the target of accentuated illumination. The accentuated illumination determination unit 13 outputs an instruction to the accentuated illumination control unit 14 to stop accentuated illumination of the first recognized object and to perform accentuated illumination of the target road surface (hereinafter referred to as "road surface-only accentuated illumination instruction information"). The road surface-only accentuated illumination instruction information output by the accentuated illumination determination unit 13 to the accentuated illumination control unit 14 includes information that accentuated illumination of the first recognized object is unnecessary, information that accentuated illumination of the target road surface is necessary, and the first object determination result.

[0147] When the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 outputs emphasis illumination instruction information for only the road surface, in other words, when the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that emphasis illumination for the first recognition object is not necessary and that emphasis illumination for the target road surface is necessary, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination for the target road surface. The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 makes it easier for the driver to recognize the first recognition object by causing the headlights 4 to perform only emphasis illumination for the target road surface via the emphasis illumination control unit 14.

[0148] Furthermore, if the emphasized illumination determination unit 13 determines that the emphasized illumination for the target road surface has an adverse effect despite having output road surface-only emphasized illumination instruction information and having caused the headlights 4 to perform only emphasized illumination for the target road surface via the emphasized illumination control unit 14, it determines to discontinue the emphasized illumination for the target road surface. Specifically, if the emphasized illumination determination unit 13 outputs road surface-only emphasized illumination instruction information and has caused the headlights 4 to perform only emphasized illumination for the target road surface via the emphasized illumination control unit 14, it temporarily stores the reliability of the second recognized object at the time of determining that only emphasized illumination for the target road surface should be performed. Then, the emphasized illumination determination unit 13 causes the second object determination unit 12 to again determine whether or not an object exists ahead of the vehicle and the type of the object, and calculate the reliability of the object, based on the captured image output from the visible light camera 3. After a certain period of time has elapsed, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 may cause the second object determination unit 12 to determine whether or not an object exists ahead of the vehicle and the type of the object, and calculate the reliability of the object, as described above, or may receive a notification from the emphasis illumination control unit 14 that emphasis illumination control information has been output to the headlights 4, and after receiving the notification, cause the second object determination unit 12 to determine whether or not an object exists ahead of the vehicle and the type of the object, and calculate the reliability of the object. Note that in Figure 1, the arrow from the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 to the second object determination unit 12 and the arrow from the emphasis illumination control unit 14 to the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 are not shown.

[0149] When the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 acquires the second object determination result from the second object determination unit 12, it compares the reliability of the object (second recognized object) calculated by the second object determination unit 12 with the temporarily stored reliability. Note that the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 confirms that the second recognized object whose reliability has been calculated by the second object determination unit 12 and the second recognized object corresponding to the temporarily stored reliability are the same object, for example, by comparing the ID assigned to the second recognized object. For example, the second object determination unit 12 assigns an ID to the object when determining the object.

[0150] If the second object determination unit 12 determines that the reliability of the second recognized object calculated by the second object determination unit 12 has not changed or has increased from the temporarily stored reliability of the second recognized object, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that only emphasis illumination of the target road surface should continue. In this case, it can be said that the reliability of the second recognized object has improved. The emphasis illumination control unit 14 continues to cause the headlights 4 to only emphasize illumination of the target road surface.

[0151] On the other hand, when the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that the reliability of the second recognized object calculated by the second object determination unit 12 has decreased compared to the reliability of the second recognized object temporarily stored, it determines to stop the emphasis illumination for the target road surface. If the reliability of the second recognized object has decreased, it is estimated that the emphasis illumination for the target road surface has had the opposite effect, in other words, that the first recognized object has become even more difficult for the driver to see. An example of a case in which the emphasis illumination for the target road surface has the opposite effect is when light from the headlights 4 that have been emphasized is reflected by the target road surface.

[0152] In this case, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that the target road surface should be excluded from the targets of emphasis illumination. The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 outputs emphasis illumination stop instruction information for stopping emphasis illumination for the target road surface to the emphasis illumination control unit 14. When the emphasis illumination stop instruction information is output from the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, in other words, in response to the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that emphasis illumination for the target road surface should be stopped, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to stop emphasis illumination for the target road surface.

[0153] In this way, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 causes the headlights 4 to stop the emphasis illumination for the first recognized object and to perform emphasis illumination for the target road surface via the emphasis illumination control unit 14, and then, if the reliability of the second recognized object drops, determines to stop the emphasis illumination for the target road surface and causes the headlights 4 to stop the emphasis illumination for the target road surface via the emphasis illumination control unit 14. In this way, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 can reduce the driver's distraction caused by unnecessary emphasis illumination.

[0154] The headlight control device 1 according to the fourth embodiment performs the "fifth irradiation control process" as described above.

[0155] <Object estimated to be first recognized object exists, reliability is below threshold, and accentuated illumination is not in progress> When the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object estimated to be the first recognized object (second recognized object) exists, determines that the reliability of the second recognized object is below the reliability determination threshold, and the first recognized object is not in accentuated illumination, the accentuated illumination determination unit 13 determines that accentuated illumination is necessary for the first recognized object, and causes the headlights 4 to perform accentuated illumination for the first recognized object via the accentuated illumination control unit 14. This is a process in which, in the "fourth illumination control process" already explained in the third embodiment, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object via the emphasis illumination control unit 14 when, as a result of the camera recognition possibility determination, the first object determination unit 11 determines that an object exists and the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists, but determines that the reliability of the second recognized object is less than the reliability determination threshold.

[0156] <Object estimated to be the first recognized object exists and is above the reliability threshold> Furthermore, if, as a result of the camera recognition determination, the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists, and if, as a result of determining whether the reliability of the object (i.e., the second recognized object) is below the reliability determination threshold, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that the reliability of the second recognized object is above the reliability determination threshold, then it terminates the processing.

[0157] However, without being limited to this, for example, when the second object determination unit 12 determines that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists as a result of the camera recognition possibility determination, and when the reliability of the object (i.e., the second recognized object) is determined to be less than the reliability determination threshold or not, and the reliability of the second recognized object is determined to be equal to or greater than the reliability determination threshold, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 may perform the "second illumination control process" already described in embodiment 2. That is, in the fourth embodiment, in addition to performing the "first illumination control process," "fourth illumination control process," and "fifth illumination control process," the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 and the emphasis illumination control unit 14 may be configured to determine to discontinue emphasis illumination for the first recognition object and to perform a process (second illumination control process) to cause the headlights 4 to discontinue emphasis illumination for the first recognition object if the object estimated to be the first recognition object and determined by the second object determination unit 12 to exist is an object that is to be excluded from emphasis illumination (hereinafter referred to as an "exclusion object from illumination").

[0158] <No Object Estimated to be the First Recognized Object> When the first object determination unit 11 determines that an object exists but the second object determination unit 12 does not determine that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that emphasis illumination of the first recognized object is necessary and causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination of the first recognized object via the emphasis illumination control unit 14. This is processing in which, in the “first illumination control processing” already described in the first embodiment, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines, as a result of performing a camera recognition feasibility determination, that although the first object determination unit 11 determined that an object exists, the second object determination unit 12 did not determine that an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists, and causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination of the first recognized object via the emphasis illumination control unit 14.

[0159] The operation of the headlight control device 1 according to the fourth embodiment will now be described. FIGS. 7 and 8 are flowcharts for explaining the operation of the headlight control device 1 according to the fourth embodiment. For example, when the headlights 4 are turned on or when it is determined that the surroundings are dark, the headlight control device 1 determines to start illumination control of the headlights 4 and starts the operation shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 7 and 8. The headlight control device 1 repeats the operation shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 7 and 8 until, for example, the headlights 4 are turned off, until it is no longer determined that the surroundings are dark, or until the vehicle power is turned off. In the operation of the headlight control device 1 according to the fourth embodiment shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 7 and 8, the headlight control device 1 performs a "second illumination control process."

[0160] The specific contents of the processes of steps ST201, ST221, ST203 to ST206, ST222 to ST223, and ST227 in Fig. 7 are respectively the same as the specific contents of the processes of steps ST201, ST221, ST203 to ST206, ST222 to ST223, and ST227 in Fig. 6 that have been explained in embodiment 3, and therefore the same step numbers are used and duplicated explanations are omitted. Also, the specific contents of the processes of steps ST212 to ST214 in Fig. 7 are respectively the same as the specific contents of the processes of steps ST212 to ST214 in Fig. 5 that have been explained in embodiment 2, and therefore the same step numbers are used and duplicated explanations are omitted.

[0161] In step ST204, if the second object determination unit 12 determines that there is an object estimated to be the first recognition object ("YES" in step ST204), determines that the reliability of the object (second recognition object) is less than the reliability determination threshold ("NO" in step ST222), and determines that the first recognition object is being emphasized ("YES" in step ST223), the emphasized illumination determination unit 13 compares the reliability of the second recognition object calculated by the second object determination unit 12 with the reliability of the second recognition object previously calculated by the second object determination unit 12. The emphasized illumination determination unit 13 first compares the reliability of the second recognition object calculated by the second object determination unit 12 with the reliability of the second recognition object previously calculated by the second object determination unit 12, and determines whether the reliability of the second recognition object has increased (step ST2241).

[0162] If it is determined in step ST2241 that the reliability of the second object to be recognized has increased (YES in step ST2241), the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines to continue to perform emphasis illumination on the first object to be recognized. Then, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 continues to cause the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first object to be recognized.

[0163] If it is determined in step ST2241 that the reliability of the second recognition object has not increased (if the result is "NO" in step ST2241), the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines whether the reliability of the second recognition object has not changed (step ST2242).

[0164] If it is determined in step ST2242 that the reliability of the second recognized object has not changed ("YES" in step ST2242), the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognized object as well as the target road surface (step ST225). Then, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 outputs emphasis illumination instruction information for performing emphasis illumination for the first recognized object and the target road surface to the emphasis illumination control unit 14. When the emphasis illumination instruction information is output from the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, in other words, in response to the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognized object and the target road surface, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination for the first recognized object and the target road surface.

[0165] If it is determined in step ST2242 that the reliability of the second recognized object has decreased ("NO" in step ST2242), the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines to stop the emphasis illumination for the first recognized object and to perform emphasis illumination for the target road surface (step ST226). Then, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 outputs road surface-only emphasis illumination instruction information to the emphasis illumination control unit 14, which stops the emphasis illumination for the first recognized object and causes emphasis illumination for the target road surface to be performed. When the road surface-only emphasis illumination instruction information is output from the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, in other words, in response to the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that emphasis illumination for the first recognized object is not necessary but emphasis illumination for the target road surface is necessary, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination for the target road surface. At this time, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 temporarily stores the reliability of the second recognized object.

[0166] Furthermore, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 causes the second object determination unit 12 to again determine whether or not an object exists ahead of the vehicle, determine the type of the object, and calculate the reliability of the object based on the captured image output from the visible light camera 3 (step ST228). Note that the specific operation of the second object determination unit 12 in step ST228 is the same as the specific operation of the second object determination unit 12 in step ST221.

[0167] When the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 acquires the second object determination result from the second object determination unit 12, it compares the reliability of the object (second recognized object) calculated by the second object determination unit 12 with the reliability that has been temporarily stored, and determines whether the reliability of the second recognized object calculated by the second object determination unit 12 has not changed or has increased compared to the reliability of the second recognized object that has been temporarily stored (step ST229).

[0168] If the reliability of the second recognized object calculated by the second object determination unit 12 is determined to have remained unchanged or increased compared with the reliability of the second recognized object temporarily stored ("YES" in step ST229), the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines to continue to perform only emphasis illumination on the target road surface. The emphasis illumination control unit 14 continues to cause the headlights 4 to perform only emphasis illumination on the target road surface.

[0169] On the other hand, if the second object determination unit 12 determines that the reliability of the second recognized object calculated has decreased compared with the reliability of the temporarily stored second recognized object ("NO" in step ST229), the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines to discontinue the emphasis illumination for the target road surface (step ST230). The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 outputs emphasis illumination discontinuation instruction information for discontinuing the emphasis illumination for the target road surface to the emphasis illumination control unit 14. When the emphasis illumination discontinuation instruction information is output from the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, in other words, in response to the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that the emphasis illumination for the target road surface should be discontinued, the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to discontinue the emphasis illumination for the target road surface.

[0170] The processing of steps ST203 to ST206 in FIG. 7 is processing executed in the "first irradiation control processing", the processing of steps ST212 to ST214 is processing executed in the "second irradiation control processing", the processing of steps ST203 to ST204, steps ST222 to ST223, and step ST227 is processing executed in the "fourth irradiation control processing", and the processing of step ST223 in FIG. 7 and steps ST2241 to ST230 in FIG. 8 is processing executed in the "fifth irradiation control processing".

[0171] 7, the process of step ST201 and the process of step ST221 are performed in parallel, but this is merely an example. For example, the process of step ST221 may be performed after the process of step ST201, or vice versa. It is sufficient that the process of step ST201 and the process of step ST221 are performed before the process of step ST203 is performed.

[0172] 8, the processing is performed in the order of step ST2241 and step ST2242, but this is merely an example. The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines whether the reliability of the second recognized object calculated by the second object determination unit 12 has increased, remained unchanged, or decreased compared to the reliability of the second recognized object temporarily stored, and if the reliability has increased, determines that emphasis illumination of the first recognized object should continue, and if the reliability has remained unchanged, determines that emphasis illumination of the target road surface is necessary in addition to the first recognized object (step ST225). If the reliability has decreased, determines that emphasis illumination of the first recognized object should be stopped and emphasis illumination of the target road surface should be performed (step ST226).

[0173] In this way, the headlight control device 1 determines whether or not an object exists ahead of the vehicle based on the sensor information output from the edge detection device 2, and determines whether or not an object exists ahead of the vehicle and the type of the object based on the captured image captured by the visible light camera 3. If the headlight control device 1 determines that an object exists based on the sensor information but is unable to determine based on the captured image that an object estimated to be the first recognized object determined to exist based on the sensor information exists, or if the reliability of the type of the object estimated to be the first recognized object determined to exist based on the captured image is less than a reliability determination threshold, the headlight control device 1 determines that enhanced illumination of the first recognized object is necessary. If the headlight control device 1 determines that enhanced illumination of the first recognized object is necessary, it controls the headlights 4 to enhance illumination of the first recognized object. Therefore, the headlight control device 1 can perform lighting control that takes into account whether an object (object) ahead of the vehicle is difficult for the driver to see. The headlight control device 1 can increase the recognition rate of an object (first recognition object) for the driver, and can also prevent a collision with the object or suppress sudden steering or braking by the driver. Furthermore, the headlight control device 1 does not perform accentuated illumination on objects that are estimated to be easily recognized by the driver even without accentuated illumination, thereby reducing unnecessary accentuated illumination and reducing distraction of the driver due to unnecessary accentuated illumination.

[0174] Furthermore, after causing the headlight control device 1 to perform emphasized illumination of the first recognition object, if the reliability of the type of the object (second recognition object) estimated to be the first recognition object determined to exist based on the image captured by the visible light camera 3 decreases, the headlight control device 1 determines to stop emphasized illumination of the first recognition object and to perform emphasized illumination of the target road surface, and causes the headlights 4 to stop emphasized illumination of the first recognition object and perform emphasized illumination of the target road surface. Thus, the headlight control device 1 makes it easier for the driver to recognize the first recognition object.

[0175] Furthermore, if the reliability of the type of the second recognized object decreases after the headlight control device 1 has caused the headlights 4 to perform accentuated illumination of the target road surface, the headlight control device 1 determines to stop accentuated illumination of the target road surface and causes the headlights 4 to stop accentuated illumination of the target road surface. Thus, the headlight control device 1 can reduce unnecessary accentuated illumination and reduce the driver's distraction caused by unnecessary accentuated illumination.

[0176] Furthermore, if the headlight control device 1 determines that there is no change in the determination result as to whether or not an object estimated to be the first recognition object exists before and after causing the headlights 4 to perform emphasized illumination of the first recognition object, it determines that emphasized illumination of the target road surface is necessary in addition to the first recognition object, and causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasized illumination of the first recognition object and the target road surface. Thus, the headlight control device 1 makes it easier for the driver to recognize the first recognition object.

[0177] Furthermore, when the headlight control device 1 is highlighting the first recognized object and the first recognized object is an object excluded from illumination, the headlight control device 1 stops highlighting the first recognized object. More specifically, after causing the headlights 4 to highlight the first recognized object, if the type of the object estimated to be the first recognized object and determined to exist based on the captured image is a road structure, the headlight control device 1 determines to stop highlighting the first recognized object and causes the headlights 4 to stop highlighting the first recognized object. Furthermore, after causing the headlights 4 to highlight the first recognized object, if the object estimated to be the first recognized object and determined to exist based on the captured image is estimated to exist outside the lane in which the vehicle is traveling and is a stationary object, the headlight control device 1 determines to stop highlighting the first recognized object and causes the headlights 4 to stop highlighting the first recognized object. Therefore, the headlight control device 1 can reduce the driver's distraction caused by unnecessary accentuated illumination.

[0178] The hardware configuration of the headlight control device 1 according to embodiment 4 is the same as the hardware configuration of the headlight control device 1 according to embodiment 3, i.e., the configuration shown in embodiment 1 using Figures 3A and 3B, and therefore a duplicated description will be omitted. In the embodiment, the headlight control device 1 includes a memory 1005 for storing a program that, when executed by the processing circuit 1001, results in the execution of steps ST201, ST221, ST203 to ST206, ST212 to ST214, ST222 to ST223, and ST227 in Figure 7 described above, and steps ST2241 to ST230 in Figure 8.

[0179] In the above-described fourth embodiment, as in the third embodiment, some of the first object determination unit 11, the second object determination unit 12, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, the emphasis illumination control unit 14, and a control unit (not shown) may be provided in an in-vehicle device of a vehicle, and the rest may be provided in a server connected to the in-vehicle device via a network, or in a mobile terminal such as a smartphone. Also, the first object determination unit 11, the second object determination unit 12, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, the emphasis illumination control unit 14, and a control unit (not shown) may all be provided in a server or a mobile terminal such as a smartphone.

[0180] Furthermore, in the above-described fourth embodiment, as in the third embodiment, the headlight control device 1 can also be applied as a headlight control device 1 that controls accentuated illumination of headlights 4 installed on a moving body other than a vehicle, such as an electric kick scooter or a Segway.

[0181] As described above, the headlight control device 1 according to the fourth embodiment includes a first object determination unit 11 that determines whether or not there is an object ahead of the moving body that is presumed to be a visual target for the driver, based on sensor information output from the edge detection device 2 that detects objects present ahead of the moving body; a second object determination unit 12 that determines whether or not there is an object ahead of the moving body, based on an image captured by the visible light camera 3 that captures an image ahead of the moving body, and determines the type of the object; and when the first object determination unit 11 determines that there is an object, the second object determination unit 12: The headlight control device 1 is configured to include an emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that determines that emphasis illumination of the first recognized object is necessary when the first object determination unit 11 determines that an object estimated to be the first recognized object does not exist, or when the reliability of the type of the object estimated to be the first recognized object determined by the second object determination unit 12 is less than a reliability determination threshold. The emphasis illumination control unit 14 controls the headlights 4 provided on the vehicle to perform emphasis illumination of the first recognized object upon receiving the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that emphasis illumination of the first recognized object is necessary. Therefore, the headlight control device 1 can perform lighting control taking into account whether an object (object) present in front of the vehicle is difficult for the driver to see. The headlight control device 1 can increase the recognition rate of the object (first recognized object) for the driver, and can prevent a collision with the object or suppress sudden steering or braking by the driver. Furthermore, the headlight control device 1 does not perform accentuated illumination on objects that are estimated to be easily recognized by the driver even without accentuated illumination, thereby reducing unnecessary accentuated illumination and reducing distraction of the driver caused by unnecessary accentuated illumination.

[0182] Furthermore, in the headlight control device 1 according to the fourth embodiment, if the reliability of the type of the object estimated to be the first recognized object, which the second object determination unit 12 has determined to exist, decreases, in other words, decreases, after the emphasis illumination control unit 14 has caused the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines to stop the emphasis illumination on the first recognized object and to cause emphasis illumination on the target road surface between the first recognized object and the moving body, and the emphasis illumination control unit 14, upon receiving the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 to stop the emphasis illumination on the first recognized object and to cause emphasis illumination on the target road surface, causes the headlights 4 to stop the emphasis illumination on the first recognized object and to perform emphasis illumination on the target road surface. Thus, the headlight control device 1 enables the driver to easily recognize the first recognized object.

[0183] Furthermore, in the headlight control device 1 according to the fourth embodiment, if the reliability of the type of the object estimated to be the first recognized object, which the second object determination unit 12 has determined to exist, decreases, in other words, declines, after the emphasis illumination control unit 14 has caused the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the target road surface, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines to discontinue emphasis illumination on the target road surface, and the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to discontinue emphasis illumination on the target road surface in response to the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that emphasis illumination on the target road surface should be discontinued. Thus, the headlight control device 1 can reduce unnecessary emphasis illumination and reduce the driver's distraction caused by unnecessary emphasis illumination.

[0184] Furthermore, in the headlight control device 1 according to the fourth embodiment, when the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that there is no change in the determination result by the second object determination unit 12 as to whether or not an object estimated to be the first recognized object exists before and after the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines that emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognized object as well as for the target road surface between the object and the moving body, and the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object and the target road surface in response to the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that emphasis illumination is necessary for the target road surface in addition to the first recognized object. Thus, the headlight control device 1 enables the driver to easily recognize the first recognized object.

[0185] Furthermore, in the headlight control device 1 according to the fourth embodiment, after the emphasis illumination control unit 14 has caused the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object, if the type of the object estimated to be the first recognized object and determined by the second object determination unit 12 to exist is a road structure, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 may determine to discontinue the emphasis illumination on the first recognized object, and the emphasis illumination control unit 14 may cause the headlights 4 to discontinue the emphasis illumination on the first recognized object in response to the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that the emphasis illumination on the first recognized object should be discontinued. This enables the headlight control device 1 to reduce the driver's distraction caused by unnecessary emphasis illumination.

[0186] Furthermore, in the headlight control device 1 according to the fourth embodiment, after the emphasis illumination control unit 14 has caused the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognized object, if the object determined by the second object determination unit 12 to exist and estimated to be the first recognized object is estimated to exist outside the lane in which the moving object is traveling and the type of the object is a stationary object, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 may determine to discontinue emphasis illumination on the first recognized object, and the emphasis illumination control unit 14 may cause the headlights 4 to discontinue emphasis illumination on the first recognized object in response to the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 to discontinue emphasis illumination on the first recognized object. This enables the headlight control device 1 to reduce the driver's distraction caused by unnecessary emphasis illumination.

[0187] In the first to fourth embodiments described above, the headlight control device 1 may stop accentuating illumination of the first recognized object when the position of the first recognized object designated as the accentuating illumination target falls outside the effective fields of view of the edge detection device 2 and the visible light camera 3, or when the position of the first recognized object designated as the accentuating illumination target falls outside the illumination range of the headlight 4. Specifically, in the headlight control device 1, the accentuating illumination determination unit 13 determines to stop accentuating illumination of the first recognized object when, after the accentuating illumination control unit 14 causes the headlight 4 to perform accentuating illumination on the first recognized object, the first recognized object falls outside the range in which the edge detection device 2 can detect objects, the range in which the visible light camera 3 can capture images, or the range in which the headlight 4 can perform accentuating illumination, i.e., the range in which accentuating illumination is possible, to the accentuating illumination control unit 14. The accentuating illumination determination unit 13 then outputs accentuating illumination stop instruction information to the accentuating illumination control unit 14 to stop accentuating illumination of the first recognized object. When emphasis illumination stop instruction information is output from the emphasis illumination determination unit 13, in other words, when the emphasis illumination control unit 14 receives the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 that emphasis illumination for the first recognition object should be stopped, it causes the headlight 4 to stop emphasis illumination for the first recognition object.

[0188] The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 may determine that the first recognition object is now outside the range in which the edge detection device 2 can detect objects after the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognition object, by, for example, determining that the first recognition object, which had previously been determined to exist by the first object determination unit 11, is no longer present. Furthermore, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 may determine that the first recognition object is now outside the range in which the visible light camera 3 can capture an image after the emphasis illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform emphasis illumination on the first recognition object, by comparing the position of the first recognition object with the range in which the visible light camera 3 can capture an image. The emphasis illumination determination unit 13 can identify the position of the first recognition object from the first object determination result. Furthermore, the range in which the visible light camera 3 can capture an image is known in advance, based on the installation position and angle of view of the visible light camera 3. Furthermore, after the highlight illumination control unit 14 causes the headlights 4 to perform highlight illumination on the first object, the highlight illumination determination unit 13 may determine that the first object is outside the highlight illumination range of the headlights 4 by comparing the position of the first object with the highlight illumination range. This allows the headlight control device 1 to reduce distraction of the driver due to unnecessary highlight illumination. Note that if the first object is outside the range in which the edge detection device 2 can detect an object, the first object determination unit 11 should have determined that no object is present ahead of the vehicle (see, for example, step ST201 in FIG. 2 ). Therefore, it is not essential for the headlight control device 1 to have the above-described function of determining whether the first object is outside the range in which the edge detection device 2 can detect an object and, if the first object is outside the range in which the edge detection device 2 can detect an object, stopping the highlight illumination of the first object.

[0189] Furthermore, in the above-described first to fourth embodiments, when there are multiple first recognized objects designated as targets for emphasis illumination, the headlight control device 1 may illuminate the first recognized object closest to the moving body in accordance with the number of objects capable of being emphasized by the headlights 4. Specifically, in the headlight control device 1, when there are multiple first recognized objects determined to require emphasis illumination, the emphasis illumination determination unit 13 determines which of the multiple first recognized objects is to be subjected to emphasis illumination, in descending order of distance to the moving body, according to the number of objects capable of being emphasized by the headlights 4. In this way, when there are multiple objects ahead of the moving body that are estimated to be difficult for the driver to see, exceeding the number that the headlights 4 can illuminate, the headlight control device 1 can perform emphasis illumination so that objects with higher priority are more easily visible to the driver. A higher priority object is, for example, an object that is likely to be more easily visible to the driver if made more visible to the driver, thereby preventing the moving body from getting into an unexpected situation.

[0190] Furthermore, in the above-described first to fourth embodiments, the first object determination unit 11 of the headlight control device 1 determines whether an object is present on the own vehicle lane or next to the own vehicle lane based on the sensor information acquired from the edge detection device 2, and may not determine the object as an object if the object satisfies the following object exclusion condition (1), object exclusion condition (2), or object exclusion condition (3). Note that "next to the own vehicle lane" includes, for example, an adjacent lane to the own vehicle lane, a roadside strip next to the own vehicle lane, or a sidewalk next to the own vehicle lane, and is intended to be a location close to the own vehicle lane. The method by which the first object determination unit 11 determines a location close to the own vehicle lane has already been described in the first embodiment, and therefore a repeated description will be omitted. Object exclusion condition (1): The object is located in the own lane and is moving in the same direction as the own vehicle (the object's speed is positive) at a speed equal to or greater than a threshold (first speed determination threshold). Object exclusion condition (2): The object is located next to the own lane and is moving in the same direction as the own vehicle (the object's speed is positive) at a speed equal to or greater than a threshold (second speed determination threshold). Object exclusion condition (3): The object is located next to the own lane and is moving in the opposite direction to the own vehicle (the object's speed is negative) at a speed equal to or greater than a threshold (second speed determination threshold). In the above object exclusion conditions (1) to (3), the object's speed refers to an absolute speed. The first object determination unit 11 may convert the relative speed of the object contained in the sensor information into an absolute speed, for example, using the speed of the own vehicle. Note that the first speed determination threshold and the second speed determination threshold may be the same value.

[0191] Specifically, in the headlight control device 1, the first object determination unit 11 determines that an object ahead of the moving body is not a target object if it is estimated to be on the lane in which the moving body is traveling and is traveling in the same direction as the moving body at a speed equal to or greater than the first speed determination threshold. Also, in the headlight control device 1, the first object determination unit 11 determines that an object ahead of the moving body is not a target object if it is estimated to be on a lane adjacent to the lane in which the moving body is traveling and is traveling in the same direction as the moving body or in the opposite direction at a speed equal to or greater than the second speed determination threshold.

[0192] As a result, the headlight control device 1 does not perform accentuated illumination on an object that satisfies the object exclusion condition (1), the object exclusion condition (2), or the object exclusion condition (3). More specifically, in the headlight control device 1, the accentuated illumination determination unit 13 determines that accentuated illumination is unnecessary for an object that the first object determination unit 11 did not determine as an object and that satisfies the object exclusion condition (1), the object exclusion condition (2), or the object exclusion condition (3). The accentuated illumination determination unit 13 does not control the headlights 4 to perform accentuated illumination. This allows the headlight control device 1 to prevent glare caused by accentuated illumination on other moving objects (a preceding moving object, a moving object in the overtaking lane, or a moving object traveling in an adjacent lane). Furthermore, the headlight control device 1 can reduce the driver's distraction caused by unnecessary accentuated illumination.

[0193] It should be noted that the present disclosure allows for free combination of the respective embodiments, modification of any of the components of the respective embodiments, or omission of any of the components of the respective embodiments.

[0194] The headlight control device according to the present disclosure can control headlight illumination taking into consideration whether an object in front of the vehicle is difficult for the driver to see.

[0195] 1 Headlight control device, 10 Probability determination unit, 11 First object determination unit, 12 Second object determination unit, 13 Emphasis illumination determination unit, 14 Emphasis illumination control unit, 2 Edge detection device, 3 Visible light camera, 4 Headlight, 1001 Processing circuit, 1002 Input interface device, 1003 Output interface device, 1004 Processor, 1005 Memory.

Claims

1. A headlight control device comprising: a first object determination unit that determines whether or not an object that is estimated to be a target for viewing by a driver is present ahead of a moving body based on sensor information output from an edge detection device that detects objects present ahead of the moving body; a second object determination unit that determines whether or not the object is present ahead of the moving body based on an image captured by a visible light camera that captures an image ahead of the moving body; an emphasis illumination determination unit that determines that emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognized object when the first object determination unit determines that the object is present but the second object determination unit does not determine that the object estimated to be the first recognized object determined to exist by the first object determination unit is present; and an emphasis illumination control unit that causes a headlight provided on the moving body to perform the emphasis illumination for the first recognized object in response to the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit that emphasis illumination is necessary for the first recognized object.

2. A first object determination unit that determines whether or not an object that is estimated to be a target for viewing by a driver is present ahead of a moving body based on sensor information output from an edge detection device that detects objects present ahead of the moving body; a second object determination unit that determines whether or not the object is present ahead of the moving body based on an image captured by a visible light camera that captures an image ahead of the moving body, and determines the type of the object; an emphasis illumination determination unit that determines that emphasis illumination is required for the first recognized object when the first object determination unit determines that the object is present but the second object determination unit does not determine that the object estimated to be the first recognized object determined to exist by the first object determination unit is present, or when the reliability of the type of the object estimated to be the first recognized object determined to exist by the second object determination unit is less than a reliability determination threshold; and an emphasis illumination control unit that causes a headlight provided on the moving body to perform the emphasis illumination for the first recognized object in response to the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit that emphasis illumination is required for the first recognized object. A headlight control device comprising:

3. The headlight control device according to claim 2, characterized in that, when the reliability of the type of the object estimated to be the first recognized object and determined by the second object determination unit to exist decreases after the emphasis illumination control unit has caused the headlight to perform the emphasis illumination on the first recognized object, the emphasis illumination determination unit determines to stop the emphasis illumination on the first recognized object and to cause the headlight to perform the emphasis illumination on the target road surface between the first recognized object and the moving body, and the emphasis illumination control unit, upon receiving a determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit to stop the emphasis illumination on the first recognized object and to cause the headlight to perform the emphasis illumination on the target road surface, causes the headlight to stop the emphasis illumination on the first recognized object and to perform the emphasis illumination on the target road surface.

4. The headlight control device according to claim 3, characterized in that the emphasis illumination determination unit determines to discontinue the emphasis illumination for the target road surface if the reliability of the type of the object estimated to be the first recognized object, which the second object determination unit determines to exist, decreases after the emphasis illumination control unit has caused the headlight to perform the emphasis illumination for the target road surface by the emphasis illumination control unit, and the emphasis illumination control unit causes the headlight to discontinue the emphasis illumination for the target road surface upon receiving a determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit to discontinue the emphasis illumination for the target road surface.

5. A headlight control device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that when the emphasis illumination determination unit determines that there is no change in the determination result by the second object determination unit as to whether or not the object estimated to be the first recognized object exists before and after the emphasis illumination control unit has caused the headlight to perform the emphasis illumination on the first recognized object, the emphasis illumination determination unit determines that the emphasis illumination is necessary on the first recognized object as well as on the target road surface between the object and the moving body, and the emphasis illumination control unit, in response to the determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit that the emphasis illumination is necessary on the target road surface in addition to the first recognized object, causes the headlight to perform the emphasis illumination on the first recognized object and the target road surface.

6. A headlight control device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the emphasis illumination determination unit determines to discontinue the emphasis illumination for the first recognized object if, after the emphasis illumination control unit has caused the headlight to perform the emphasis illumination for the first recognized object, the first recognized object is outside the range in which the edge detection device can detect the object, is outside the range in which the visible light camera can capture an image, or is outside the range in which the headlight can perform the emphasis illumination, and the emphasis illumination control unit causes the headlight to discontinue the emphasis illumination for the first recognized object upon receiving a determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit to discontinue the emphasis illumination for the first recognized object.

7. A headlight control device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the second object determination unit determines whether or not the object is present in front of the moving body based on the captured image and determines the type of the object, the emphasis illumination determination unit determines to discontinue the emphasis illumination for the first recognized object if the type of the object estimated to be the first recognized object and determined by the second object determination unit to exist is a road structure after the emphasis illumination control unit has caused the headlight to perform the emphasis illumination for the first recognized object, and the emphasis illumination control unit causes the headlight to discontinue the emphasis illumination for the first recognized object upon receiving a determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit to discontinue the emphasis illumination for the first recognized object.

8. A headlight control device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the second object determination unit determines whether or not the object is present in front of the moving body based on the captured image and determines the type of the object, the emphasis illumination determination unit determines to discontinue the emphasis illumination for the first recognized object when the object estimated to be the first recognized object and determined by the second object determination unit to exist after the emphasis illumination control unit has caused the headlight to perform the emphasis illumination for the first recognized object is estimated to exist outside the lane in which the moving body is traveling and the type of the object is a stationary object, and the emphasis illumination control unit causes the headlight to discontinue the emphasis illumination for the first recognized object upon receiving a determination result by the emphasis illumination determination unit to discontinue the emphasis illumination for the first recognized object.

9. A headlight control device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, when there are multiple first recognized objects determined to require the accentuated illumination, the accentuated illumination determination unit determines which of the multiple first recognized objects is to be subjected to the accentuated illumination, in order of closest distance to the moving body, depending on the number of objects for which the headlight is capable of performing the accentuated illumination.

10. A headlight control device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the first object determination unit determines that an object present in front of the moving body is not the target object when it is estimated to be present on the lane in which the moving body is traveling and is estimated to be moving in the same direction as the moving body at a speed equal to or greater than the first speed determination threshold.

11. A headlight control device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the first object determination unit determines that the object in front of the moving body is not the target object when it is estimated to be in a lane adjacent to the lane in which the moving body is traveling and is estimated to be moving in the same direction as the moving body or in the opposite direction at a speed equal to or greater than the second speed determination threshold.

12. A headlight control device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the edge detection device includes a millimeter wave sensor, a LiDAR, or an infrared camera.

13. A headlight control method comprising the steps of: a first object determination unit determining whether or not an object estimated to be a target for viewing by a driver is present ahead of a moving body based on sensor information output from an edge detection device that detects objects present ahead of the moving body; a second object determination unit determining whether or not the object is present ahead of the moving body based on an image captured by a visible light camera that captures an image ahead of the moving body; a highlight illumination determination unit determining that highlight illumination is necessary for the first recognized object, when the first object determination unit has determined that the object is present but the second object determination unit has not determined that the object estimated to be the first recognized object determined to exist by the first object determination unit is present; and a highlight illumination control unit causing the headlights provided on the moving body to perform the highlight illumination for the first recognized object, in response to the determination result by the highlight illumination determination unit that highlight illumination is necessary for the first recognized object.

14. A step in which a first object determination unit determines whether or not an object estimated to be a visual target for a driver exists ahead of a moving body based on sensor information output from an edge detection device that detects objects existing ahead of the moving body; a step in which a second object determination unit determines whether or not an object exists ahead of the moving body based on an image captured by a visible light camera that captures an image ahead of the moving body, and determines the type of the object; and a step in which an emphasis illumination determination unit determines that emphasis illumination is required for the first recognition object when the first object determination unit determines that the object exists but the second object determination unit does not determine that the object estimated to be the first recognition object determined to exist by the first object determination unit does not exist, or when the reliability of the type of the object estimated to be the first recognition object determined to exist by the second object determination unit is less than a reliability determination threshold. a step of causing a highlight illumination control unit to cause a headlight provided on the moving body to perform the highlight illumination on the first recognition object in response to a determination result by the highlight illumination determination unit that the highlight illumination is necessary for the first recognition object.

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