Control device for automobile, program, and light system

Abstract

A camera ECU (300) is mounted on an automobile (100) provided with a drive recorder (210), and is modularized together with a camera (212) of the drive recorder (210). A control device (300) processes an image IMG from the camera (212) of the drive recorder (210), predicts a collision of the automobile (100) with the preceding vehicle, generates a control signal (dimming instruction) S3, which is a trigger for reducing the luminance of a headlight (220), in response to the prediction, and outputs the control signal to the outside.

Description

Automotive control devices, programs, and lamp systems

[0001] The present disclosure relates to lamp systems for automobiles.

[0002] An increasing number of automobiles are being fitted with drive recorders to record the circumstances of traffic accidents or dangerous behavior such as aggressive driving. Furthermore, the number of automobiles equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS: Automatic Driver-Assistance Systems) is also on the rise.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2019-039759 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-162080 International Publication No. WO2021-124779A1

[0004] The present inventors have studied automobiles equipped with drive recorders and have come to recognize the following problems.

[0005] When a car collides with a vehicle ahead, the distance between the car and the vehicle ahead becomes so close that the headlights at the position of the vehicle ahead become very bright. This can cause the license plate of the vehicle ahead to appear washed out in the image recorded by the dashcam.

[0006] The present disclosure has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and one exemplary purpose of an embodiment thereof is to provide a system that can record important information about a subject even in the event of a collision.

[0007] An aspect of the present disclosure relates to a control device mounted on a vehicle equipped with a drive recorder and modularized with a camera of the drive recorder. The control device processes images from the camera of the drive recorder, predicts a collision of the vehicle with a vehicle ahead, and outputs a control signal to an external device that triggers a reduction in headlamp brightness based on the prediction result.

[0008] Any combination of the above elements, or mutual substitution of elements or expressions between methods, devices, systems, etc., are also valid aspects of the present invention or the present disclosure. Furthermore, the description in this section (Means for Solving the Problems) does not explain all essential features of the present invention, and therefore, subcombinations of the described features may also constitute the present invention.

[0009] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, important information about a subject can be recorded even in the event of a collision.

[0010] 1 is a block diagram of a vehicle according to a first embodiment; FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a microcontroller which is a camera ECU; FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a headlamp controlled by a camera ECU; FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the operation of a conventional lamp system; FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the lamp system of FIG. 1; FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a vehicle according to a second embodiment; FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a vehicle according to a third embodiment;

[0011] (Summary of the Embodiments) A summary of some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be provided. This summary is intended to provide a basic understanding of one or more embodiments as a prelude to the detailed description that follows, and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention or disclosure. Furthermore, this summary is not intended to be a comprehensive overview of all possible embodiments, nor does it limit essential elements of the embodiments. For convenience, the term "one embodiment" may refer to one embodiment (example or variant) or multiple embodiments (examples or variants) disclosed herein.

[0012] In one embodiment, a control device is installed in a vehicle equipped with a drive recorder and modularized with the drive recorder camera. The control device processes images from the drive recorder camera, predicts a collision of the vehicle with a vehicle ahead, and outputs a control signal to an external device that triggers a reduction in headlamp brightness based on the prediction result.

[0013] With this configuration, the brightness of the headlights decreases when the distance between the vehicle ahead and the vehicle itself becomes short just before a collision. This reduces the illuminance of the vehicle ahead, preventing overexposure in the images recorded by the drive recorder and ultimately enabling important information about the subject to be recorded at the time of a collision.

[0014] In one embodiment, the control device may predict a collision based on images from a camera of a drive recorder. The control device can estimate the distance to the subject based on the size and changes in the size of the subject captured in the camera image, and the information obtained can be used to predict a collision.

[0015] In one embodiment, the automobile may be equipped with a driving assistance system. The camera of the drive recorder may also serve as a sensor for the driving assistance system. By using the camera of the drive recorder as a sensor for the driving assistance system, the cost for the function can be reduced.

[0016] In one embodiment, the automobile may include a driver assistance system. The control device may predict a collision based on the output of a sensor of the driver assistance system. Examples of such a sensor include a millimeter-wave radar, a light detection and ranging (LiDAR), a time-of-flight (ToF) camera, a stereo camera, and a monocular camera.

[0017] In one embodiment, the control device may generate shading information for defining the light distribution of the headlamp based on an image from a camera of the drive recorder.

[0018] In one embodiment, the automobile may be equipped with a driving assistance system, and the control device may generate shading information for defining the light distribution of the headlamp based on the output of a sensor of the driving assistance system.

[0019] A lamp system according to an embodiment includes a drive recorder and a headlamp. The drive recorder may include a camera and any of the control devices described above.

[0020] (Embodiments) Preferred embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings. The same or equivalent components, parts, and processes shown in each drawing will be given the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations will be omitted as appropriate. Furthermore, the embodiments are examples rather than limitations on the disclosure, and all features and combinations thereof described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the disclosure.

[0021] (Embodiment 1) Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an automobile 100 according to embodiment 1. The automobile 100 includes a drive recorder 210, headlamps 220, and a vehicle-side system 110. The drive recorder 210, the headlamps 220, and the vehicle-side system 110 are connected via a vehicle bus 106. The vehicle bus 106 may be a single bus or multiple buses. The type of the vehicle bus 106 is not particularly limited, but examples include a controller area network (CAN) and a local interconnect network (LIN).

[0022] The drive recorder 210 captures images of the area ahead of the vehicle and records the captured images. In this example, the recording medium 114 is provided in the vehicle-side system 110. The recording medium 114 is an SD card, a solid-state drive (SSD), a flash memory, or the like, and records the images generated by the drive recorder. In the block diagram of FIG. 1 , the recording medium 114 is provided on the vehicle side, but it may also be provided in the drive recorder 210.

[0023] The drive recorder 210 includes a camera 212 , an event detection sensor 214 , and a camera ECU 300 .

[0024] The camera ECU 300 includes a drive recorder processing unit 310. The drive recorder processing unit 310 transfers image data IMG output from the camera 212 to the vehicle-side system 110. The event detection sensor 214 includes a gyro sensor, a gravity sensor, and the like. The drive recorder processing unit 310 detects a predetermined event, such as a large vibration of the vehicle body or a fall, according to the output of the event detection sensor 214. When the drive recorder processing unit 310 detects an event, it switches the recording mode.

[0025] The camera ECU 300 may be a control board configured by combining a microcontroller (MCU) and other hardware, and performs various processes by having a processor execute software programs. The blocks shown inside the camera ECU 300 in the block diagram conveniently and schematically represent the units of processes and functions implemented in the camera ECU 300.

[0026] The headlamp 220 includes a low beam unit 222 , a high beam unit 224 , and a lamp ECU 226 .

[0027] The lamp ECU 226 receives a low beam and high beam on / off instruction signal S1 from the vehicle ECU 112. When the lamp ECU 226 receives a low beam on instruction Hi, it turns on the low beam unit 222, and when the lamp ECU 226 receives a high beam on instruction Lo, it turns on the high beam unit 224.

[0028] The headlamp 220 may have an ADB function that adaptively controls light distribution in accordance with a target object ahead of the vehicle. The high beam unit 224 is a variable light distribution lamp that can provide local shading areas within its light distribution pattern. The lamp ECU 226 receives shading information S2 from the vehicle-side system 110. The shading information S2 includes data that specifies areas within the light distribution that should be shaded. The lamp ECU 226 controls the high beam unit 224 based on the shading information S2 to illuminate the area ahead of the vehicle with a glare-free high beam.

[0029] The drive recorder 210 includes a camera 212, an event detection sensor 214, and a control device 300. Hereinafter, the control device 300 will be referred to as a camera electronic control unit (ECU). The camera ECU 300 is modularized together with the camera 212 of the drive recorder 210.

[0030] Vehicle-side system 110 includes a vehicle ECU 112 and a recording medium 114. Vehicle ECU 112 writes image data IMG received from drive recorder 210 to recording medium 114.

[0031] The automobile 100 may be equipped with a driving assistance system, which may be implemented as part of the vehicle-side system 110, and the vehicle-side system 110 may include an ADAS sensor 116. Examples of the ADAS sensor 116 include millimeter-wave radar, a light detection and ranging (LiDAR), a time-of-flight (ToF) camera, a stereo camera, and a monocular camera. Alternatively, instead of or in addition to the ADAS sensor 116, the camera 212 of the drive recorder 210 may function as a sensor for the ADAS.

[0032] Generally, the drive recorder 210 and the headlamps 220 are designed completely independently, but the present embodiment differs from conventional systems in that the camera ECU 300 of the drive recorder 210 executes part of the processing related to the control of the headlamps 220. In other words, it can be said that the drive recorder 210 and the headlamps 220 form the lamp system 200.

[0033] The control of the headlamp 220 by the drive recorder 210 will be described below.

[0034] The camera ECU 300 includes a lamp-related processing unit (lamp-related function) 320. The lamp-related processing unit 320 predicts a collision of the automobile 100 equipped with the lamp system 200 with a vehicle ahead, and generates a control signal (dimming instruction) S3 that triggers a reduction in the brightness of the headlamps 220 in response to the prediction, and outputs the signal to the outside.

[0035] The dimming command S3 is supplied to the lamp ECU 226 via the vehicle bus 106 or via another control line (not shown). In response to the dimming command S3, the lamp ECU 226 reduces the brightness of the lamps (222, 224) that are currently lit.

[0036] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a microcontroller 800, which is the camera ECU 300. The microcontroller 800 includes a processor 810, a nonvolatile memory 820, a memory 830, and an interface circuit 840. The nonvolatile memory 820 is a flash memory and serves as a storage medium for storing the software program 850 executed by the processor 810. Upon startup, the processor 810 loads the software program 850 into the memory 830 and executes the instructions of the software program 850. The interface circuit 840 may include a serial interface such as a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver and Transmitter), a 3-wire serial interface, or an I2C bus interface, a CAN interface, a GPIO, an A / D converter, or a D / A converter. The components of the microcontroller 800 may be built into a single IC package, or may be a microcomputer board in which several IC packages are mounted on a printed circuit board.

[0037] 3 is a flowchart of the headlamp 220 controlled by the camera ECU 300. The drive recorder 210 starts capturing images (S100). The camera ECU 300 determines the possibility of collision of the automobile 100 with a vehicle ahead (S110). If the camera ECU 300 determines that the possibility of collision is low (not present) (N in S110), it continues to determine the possibility of collision. If the camera ECU 300 determines that the possibility of collision is high (yes) (Y in S110), it issues a dimming command S3. In response to this dimming command S3, the brightness of the headlamp 220 is reduced (S120).

[0038] The lamp system 200 has the above configuration.

[0039] Next, a problem that occurs in a headlamp system with a drive recorder will be described.

[0040] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the operation of a conventional lamp system. This diagram shows a driving scene immediately before a collision. Conventionally, a low beam 4 with a constant brightness is irradiated onto a vehicle 2 ahead, regardless of the distance to the vehicle 2 ahead. In this case, as the distance to the vehicle 2 ahead decreases, the illuminance at the rear end face of the vehicle 2 ahead increases. This increases the pixel value of the image of the vehicle ahead recorded by the drive recorder, which captures the light reflected from the vehicle ahead 2, causing the vehicle ahead 2 to appear overexposed. This means that important information, such as the license plate number, that should be recorded by the drive recorder may be lost.

[0041] Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the lamp system of Fig. 1. The top part of Fig. 5 shows a normal driving scene, in which the low beam unit 222 emits light at a predetermined brightness, and a low beam 4a that satisfies the legal light distribution requirements is irradiated ahead of the vehicle.

[0042] As shown in the middle of Figure 5, when the distance to the vehicle 2 ahead becomes shorter, the camera ECU 300 determines that the possibility of a collision with the vehicle 2 ahead has increased. Based on this determination, the light emission brightness of the low beam unit 222 is reduced, and the low beam 4b becomes darker. As a result, at the moment of collision shown in the bottom of Figure 5, the illuminance at the vehicle 2 ahead is lowered, and the pixel values ​​of the image of the vehicle ahead recorded by the drive recorder based on the reflected light are smaller than those in Figure 4. This suppresses overexposure and prevents the loss of important information such as the license plate.

[0043] In this embodiment, the lamp-related processing unit 320 of the camera ECU 300 predicts a collision based on the image IMG from the camera 212. The camera ECU 300 can receive vehicle speed information from the vehicle ECU 112 via the vehicle bus 106. The lamp-related processing unit 320 can predict a collision based on the size of the automobile 100 and an object (forward vehicle) captured in the image IMG from the camera 212. Specifically, the camera ECU 300 can estimate the distance to the forward vehicle based on the size of the forward vehicle in the image IMG. A collision may then be predicted based on the relative relationship between the estimated distance and the stopping distance determined by the vehicle speed. In addition to or instead of the size of the object captured in the image IMG, the distance to the object may also be estimated based on the position of the object.

[0044] The collision prediction method is not limited to this, and any known or future available technology may be used.

[0045] The lamp-related processing unit 320 may process the image IMG from the camera 212, determine the position and type of a target ahead of the vehicle, and generate the shading information S2. In other words, the camera 212 for the drive recorder may also serve as a sensor for ADB control. This allows the cost of the lamp system 200 to be reduced.

[0046] Either or both of the shading information S2 and the dimming instruction S3 generated by the camera ECU 300 may be passed through the vehicle ECU 112 and then supplied from the vehicle ECU 112 to the lamp ECU 226. Alternatively, either or both of the shading information S2 and the dimming instruction S3 may be supplied directly from the camera ECU 300 to the headlamp 220.

[0047] 6 is a block diagram of an automobile 100A according to a second embodiment. The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in the processing of a lamp-related processing unit 320A of a camera ECU 300A. Specifically, the lamp-related processing unit 320A predicts a collision of the automobile 100 (host vehicle) with a vehicle ahead based on the output (sensor information) S4 of the ADAS sensor 116, rather than the image IMG generated by the camera 212.

[0048] Specifically, the sensor information S4 generated by the ADAS sensor 116 is supplied to the lamp-related processing unit 320A via the vehicle bus 106. The lamp-related processing unit 320A predicts a collision based on the sensor information S4, and when the possibility of a collision increases, generates a control signal (dimming instruction) S3 that is a trigger to reduce the brightness of the headlamp 220. The rest is the same as in the first embodiment.

[0049] According to the second embodiment, it is possible to obtain the same effects as those of the first embodiment. Furthermore, by using the sensor information S4 generated by the ADAS sensor 116, it is possible to improve the accuracy of collision prediction.

[0050] 7 is a block diagram of an automobile 100B according to a third embodiment. In the third embodiment, the ADAS sensor 116 is provided on the lamp system 200B side. For example, the ADAS sensor 116 may be built into a drive recorder 210B. Alternatively, the ADAS sensor 116 may be built into a headlamp 220.

[0051] The lamp-related processing unit 320B predicts a collision based on sensor information S4 generated by the ADAS sensor 116 provided on the lamp system 200B side, and when the possibility of a collision increases, generates a control signal (dimming instruction) S3 that is a trigger to reduce the brightness of the headlamp 220. The rest is the same as in the second embodiment.

[0052] In the second and third embodiments, the lamp-related processing units 320A and 320B may predict a collision based on both the sensor information S4 and the image IMG generated by the camera 212.

[0053] (Modification) In the first to third embodiments, the lamp-related processing unit 320 may generate the light blocking information S2 based on the sensor information S4 generated by the ADAS sensor 116.

[0054] The embodiments are merely examples, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that there are various variations in the combination of each component and each treatment process, and that such variations are also included within the scope of this disclosure or the present invention.

[0055] The present disclosure relates to lamp systems for automobiles.

[0056] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 Automobile 110 Vehicle-side system 112 Vehicle ECU 114 Recording medium 116 ADAS sensor 106 Vehicle bus 200 Lamp system 210 Drive recorder 212 Camera 214 Event detection sensor 220 Headlamp 222 Low beam unit 224 High beam unit 226 Lamp ECU 300 Camera ECU 310 Drive recorder processing unit 320 Lamp-related processing unit S2 Shading information S3 Control signal (dimming instruction) S4 Sensor information

Claims

1. A control device that is installed in an automobile equipped with a drive recorder and modularized together with the camera of the drive recorder, which processes images from the camera of the drive recorder, predicts a collision of the automobile with a vehicle ahead, and outputs a control signal to the outside that serves as a trigger to reduce the brightness of the headlights based on the prediction result.

2. The control device according to claim 1, characterized in that the collision is predicted based on an image captured by the camera of the drive recorder.

3. The control device according to claim 2, characterized in that the automobile is equipped with a driving assistance system, and the control device further comprises a drive recorder camera which also serves as a sensor for the driving assistance system.

4. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the automobile is equipped with a driving assistance system, and the control device predicts the collision based on an output of a sensor of the driving assistance system.

5. A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the control device generates shading information for defining the light distribution of the headlamp based on an image from a camera of the drive recorder.

6. A control device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the automobile is equipped with a driving assistance system, and the control device generates shading information for defining the light distribution of the headlamp based on the output of a sensor of the driving assistance system.

7. A lamp system comprising: a drive recorder; and a headlamp, wherein the drive recorder comprises: a camera; and a control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

8. A program executed by a control device, the control device being mounted on an automobile equipped with a drive recorder and a driving assistance system and modularized together with the camera of the drive recorder, the program causing the control device to execute the steps of: processing images from the camera of the drive recorder; predicting a collision of the automobile with a vehicle ahead; and outputting, based on the predicted collision result, a control signal that is a trigger for reducing the brightness of headlamps to the outside of the control device.

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