Light distribution control device, light distribution control program, vehicle headlight, and vehicle lamp system

Abstract

A light distribution control device (20) used in a vehicle headlight capable of changing a light distribution pattern projected in front of a vehicle (1) comprises: a position information acquisition unit (23) that acquires current position information of an own vehicle; a traveling direction information acquisition unit (24) that acquires current traveling direction information of the own vehicle; an image acquisition unit (25) that acquires a captured image of current surroundings of the own vehicle; and a control unit (22) that controls the light distribution pattern. The control unit controls the light distribution pattern on the basis of: light spot information (27A) containing position information acquired during past traveling, traveling direction information acquired during the past traveling, type information of a target that is a light spot in a captured image that is captured during the past traveling; the current position information; and the current captured image.

Description

Light distribution control device, light distribution control program, vehicle headlamp, and vehicle lighting fixture system

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a light distribution control device, a light distribution control program, a vehicle headlamp, and a vehicle lighting system.

[0002] Light distribution control devices are known that detect preceding and oncoming vehicles using sensors such as cameras mounted on a vehicle and control the light distribution of headlights to prevent dazzling moving objects such as preceding and oncoming vehicles (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

[0003] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2008-037240 Japanese Patent Publication No. 2008-094127

[0004] However, the light distribution control devices disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 have the problem that they may mistakenly detect objects to be illuminated, such as signs and streetlights, as moving objects, and fail to illuminate the objects that should be illuminated.

[0005] The present disclosure aims to provide a light distribution control device, a light distribution control program, a vehicle headlamp, and a vehicle lighting system that can irradiate light onto an object to be illuminated with high precision and improve safety.

[0006] A light distribution control device according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a light distribution control device used in a vehicle headlamp that is capable of changing the light distribution pattern projected in front of the vehicle, and includes: a position information acquisition unit that acquires current position information of the vehicle; a traveling direction information acquisition unit that acquires current traveling direction information of the vehicle; an image acquisition unit that acquires a current captured image of the periphery of the vehicle; and a control unit that controls the light distribution pattern, and the control unit controls the light distribution pattern based on the position information acquired during past driving, the traveling direction information acquired during the past driving, and light spot information including type information of targets that are light spots in the captured image captured during the past driving, the current position information, and the current captured image.

[0007] a control unit for controlling the light distribution pattern, the control unit controlling the light distribution pattern based on the position information acquired during past traveling, the traveling direction information acquired during the past traveling, and light spot information including type information of targets that are light spots in the captured image captured during the past traveling, the current position information, and the current captured image; and when the number of light spot information including the past position information and the traveling direction information that respectively match the current position and traveling direction of the vehicle is less than a predetermined value, the control unit does not illuminate the periphery of the light spot in the current captured image, or reduces the amount of light illuminated around the light spot, If the number is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the type of target that is a light spot in the current captured image is determined based on the light spot information, the current position information, and the current captured image, and if it is determined that the target is other than a moving object, the light distribution pattern is controlled so that the amount of light irradiated around the target is not reduced.

[0008] a control unit for controlling the light distribution pattern, the control unit controlling the light distribution pattern based on the position information acquired during a past travel, the traveling direction information acquired during the past travel, and light spot information including type information of targets that are light spots in the captured image captured during the past travel, the current position information, and the current captured image; and when traveling at the same location, for light spots that appear in the captured image, during the first travel when the light spot information has not been recorded, the control unit controls the light distribution pattern so that, for all light spots that appear in the captured image, the light distribution pattern is not irradiated or the amount of light irradiated is reduced. During normal driving when the light spot information is recorded, the light distribution pattern is controlled so that the amount of light irradiated onto the periphery of at least some of the light spots from targets that are not moving objects is not reduced.

[0009] A light distribution control program according to another aspect of the present disclosure is a light distribution control program used for a vehicle headlamp that is capable of changing the light distribution pattern projected in front of the vehicle, and includes: a position information acquisition step of acquiring current position information of the vehicle; a traveling direction information acquisition step of acquiring current traveling direction information of the vehicle; an image acquisition step of acquiring a current captured image of the periphery of the vehicle; and a control step of controlling the light distribution pattern, wherein in the control step, the light distribution pattern is controlled based on the position information acquired during past driving, the traveling direction information acquired during the past driving, and light point information including the type of target that is a light point in the captured image captured during the past driving, the current position information, and the current captured image.

[0010] A vehicle lighting system according to another aspect of the present disclosure is a vehicle lighting system comprising: a vehicle headlamp including a light source unit, capable of changing the light distribution pattern projected in front of the vehicle; and a light distribution control device, wherein the light distribution control device comprises: a position information acquisition unit that acquires current position information of the vehicle; a traveling direction information acquisition unit that acquires traveling direction information of the vehicle; an image acquisition unit that acquires a current captured image of the periphery of the vehicle; and a control unit that controls the light distribution pattern, and the control unit controls the light distribution pattern based on the position information acquired during past driving, the traveling direction information acquired during the past driving, and light spot information including type information of targets that are light spots in the captured image captured during the past driving, the current position information, and the current captured image.

[0011] A light distribution control device according to another aspect of the present disclosure is a light distribution control device used for a vehicle headlamp that is capable of changing the light distribution pattern projected in front of the vehicle, and includes: a position information acquisition unit that acquires current position information of the vehicle; a traveling direction information acquisition unit that acquires current traveling direction information of the vehicle; an image acquisition unit that acquires a current captured image of the area around the vehicle; and a memory unit that stores the position information acquired during past driving, the traveling direction information acquired during the past driving, and light spot information relating to at least the coordinates within the image of a light spot included in the captured image captured during the past driving, and controls the light distribution of the vehicle headlamp based on a determination result of whether or not a light spot included in the current captured image is a light spot from a moving object, based on the light spot information.

[0012] A light distribution control device according to another aspect of the present disclosure is a light distribution control device used for a vehicle headlamp that is capable of changing the light distribution pattern projected in front of the vehicle, and includes: a position information acquisition unit that acquires current position information of the host vehicle; a traveling direction information acquisition unit that acquires current traveling direction information of the host vehicle; an image acquisition unit that acquires a current captured image of the periphery of the host vehicle; and a memory unit that stores the position information acquired during past driving, the traveling direction information acquired during the past driving, and light point information relating to at least the coordinates within the image of a light point included in the captured image captured during the past driving; when the number of times that the past position information and traveling direction information that match the current position and traveling direction of the host vehicle have been acquired is less than a predetermined value, the light distribution control device does not illuminate or reduces the amount of illuminated light, an area in the current captured image that includes a light point that is determined not to be a light point from a moving object; and when the number of times that the number of acquisitions is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the light distribution control device illuminates an area in the current captured image that includes a light point that is determined not to be a light point from the moving object without reducing the amount of illuminated light.

[0013] A light distribution control program according to another aspect of the present disclosure is a light distribution control program for a vehicle headlamp capable of changing a light distribution pattern projected in front of the vehicle, and includes: a position information acquisition step of acquiring current position information of the vehicle; a traveling direction information acquisition step of acquiring current traveling direction information of the vehicle; an image acquisition step of acquiring a current captured image of the area around the vehicle; a detection step of detecting light points included in the captured image; a storage step of storing the position information acquired during past driving, the traveling direction information acquired during the past driving, and light point information relating to at least the coordinates within the image of light points included in the captured image captured during the past driving in a storage unit provided in the vehicle; a determination step of determining whether or not light points included in the current captured image are light points from a moving object in the detection step; and a light distribution control step of controlling the light distribution of the vehicle headlamp based on the determination result in the determination step.

[0014] A vehicle headlamp according to another aspect of the present disclosure is a vehicle headlamp capable of changing the light distribution pattern projected in front of the vehicle and equipped with a light distribution control device, wherein the light distribution control device comprises: a position information acquisition unit that acquires current position information of the vehicle; a traveling direction information acquisition unit that acquires current traveling direction information of the vehicle; an image acquisition unit that acquires a current captured image of the area around the vehicle; and a memory unit that stores the position information acquired during past driving, the traveling direction information acquired during the past driving, and light spot information relating to at least the coordinates within the image of a light spot included in the captured image captured during the past driving, and the light distribution control device controls the light distribution based on a determination result of whether or not a light spot included in the current captured image is a light spot from a moving object, based on the light spot information.

[0015] A light distribution control device according to another aspect of the present disclosure is a light distribution control device used for a vehicle headlamp that is capable of changing the light distribution pattern that is irradiated ahead of the vehicle, and includes: a position information acquisition unit that acquires current position information of the vehicle; a traveling direction information acquisition unit that acquires current traveling direction information of the vehicle; a classifier that identifies targets based on target-related information regarding targets around the vehicle; and a memory unit that stores the position information acquired during past driving, the traveling direction information acquired during the past driving, and a first identification result of the target identified by the classifier during the past driving, and controls the light distribution of the vehicle headlamp based on a light distribution control command for the vehicle headlamp from a light distribution control command generation unit, the first identification result, and a second identification result of the target identified by the classifier during current driving.

[0016] a storage unit that stores the position information acquired during past traveling, the traveling direction information acquired during the past traveling, and a first identification result of the target identified by the identifier during the past traveling; and a light distribution control device according to another aspect of the present disclosure, which is used for a vehicle headlamp capable of changing a light distribution pattern to be irradiated ahead of the vehicle, the light distribution control device comprising: a position information acquisition unit that acquires current position information of the host vehicle; a traveling direction information acquisition unit that acquires current traveling direction information of the host vehicle; a classifier that identifies the target based on target-related information regarding targets around the host vehicle; and a storage unit that stores the position information acquired during past traveling, the traveling direction information acquired during the past traveling, and a first identification result of the target identified by the classifier ... the first identification result and a second identification result of the target identified by the classifier during current traveling, the light distribution control device determines whether the target is a moving object based on the first identification result and a second identification result of the target identified by the classifier during current traveling; and a light distribution control device according to the number of times the position information and the traveling direction information acquired during past traveling that match the current position information and the traveling direction information of the host vehicle, respectively, when it is determined that the target is not a moving object, the light distribution control device increases in probability of performing light distribution control so as to illuminate an area including the target without reducing the amount of illumination light, When the target is determined to be the moving body, the probability of performing light distribution control such that the area including the target is not illuminated or the amount of illuminated light is reduced increases.

[0017] A light distribution control program according to another aspect of the present disclosure is a light distribution control program for a vehicle headlamp that is capable of changing the light distribution pattern that is irradiated ahead of the vehicle, and includes: a position information acquisition step of acquiring current position information of the vehicle; a traveling direction information acquisition step of acquiring current traveling direction information of the vehicle; an identification step of identifying a target based on target-related information regarding targets around the vehicle; a storage step of storing the position information acquired during past traveling, the traveling direction information acquired during the past traveling, and a first identification result of the target identified in the identification step during the past traveling; and a light distribution control step of controlling the light distribution of the vehicle headlamp based on a light distribution control command for the vehicle headlamp from a light distribution control command generation unit, the first identification result, and a second identification result of the target identified in the identification step during current traveling.

[0018] A vehicle headlamp according to another aspect of the present disclosure is a vehicle headlamp having a light source unit that is capable of changing the light distribution pattern irradiated ahead of the vehicle and that has a plurality of light emitting units arranged in a matrix, each of which is capable of individually changing the amount of light emitted, and is equipped with a light distribution control device, wherein the light distribution control device comprises: a position information acquisition unit that acquires current position information of the vehicle; a traveling direction information acquisition unit that acquires current traveling direction information of the vehicle; an identifier that identifies targets based on target-related information regarding targets around the vehicle; and a memory unit that stores the position information acquired during past traveling, the traveling direction information acquired during the past traveling, and a first identification result of the target identified by the identifier during the past traveling, and controls the light distribution of the vehicle headlamp based on a light distribution control command for the vehicle headlamp from a light distribution control command generation unit, the first identification result, and a second identification result of the target identified by the identifier during current traveling.

[0019] According to the present disclosure, a light distribution control device, a light distribution control program, a vehicle headlamp, and a vehicle lighting system are provided that can irradiate light onto an object to be illuminated with high precision and improve safety.

[0020] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a vehicle lighting system according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a problem with a light distribution control device according to a comparative example. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an overall flow of a process for creating light spot information by a creation unit. FIG. 4 is a table illustrating an example of feature quantities used to determine the type of light spot. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of light spot information created by the creation unit. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating in detail the operation flow when the creation unit performs a light spot detection process in step S12 of FIG. 3. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating in detail the operation flow when the creation unit performs a light spot tracking process in step S14 of FIG. 3. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating in detail the process for saving light spot information created by the creation unit. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an overall flow when a light distribution control unit performs light distribution control. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an integration process by the light distribution control unit. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a light distribution pattern controlled by the light distribution control unit. FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a vehicle headlamp system according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle equipped with a vehicle headlamp. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a captured image of the area ahead of the vehicle. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a format of light spot information. FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing light distribution control using light spot information. FIG. 17 is a graph showing light spots mapped on a feature space. FIG. 18 is a graph showing light spots mapped on a feature space. FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a light distribution pattern. FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle headlamp system according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle equipped with a vehicle headlamp. FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of a captured image of the area ahead of the vehicle. FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of a format of a first identification result, position information, and traveling direction information. FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing a flow of identifying a target object during current driving. FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an example of a light distribution pattern.

[0021] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as the present embodiment) will be described with reference to the drawings. For the sake of convenience, the dimensions of each component shown in the drawings may differ from the actual dimensions of each component.

[0022] In addition, in the description of this embodiment, for convenience of explanation, the "left-right direction" and the "front-rear direction" may be referred to as appropriate. These directions are relative directions set for the vehicle 1. Here, the "left-right direction" includes the "left direction" and the "right direction." The "front-rear direction" includes the "forward direction" and the "rearward direction." (First embodiment) <Configuration of the vehicle lighting system> [Overall configuration]

[0023] A vehicle lighting system 100 according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle lighting system 100.

[0024] 1 , a vehicle 1 is equipped with a vehicle lighting system 100, a position sensor 31, a camera 32, and a radar 33. The vehicle lighting system 100 includes a vehicle control device 10, a light distribution control device 20, and a vehicle lamp (vehicle headlamp) 21 that can change the light distribution pattern projected in front of the vehicle 1.

[0025] The position sensor 31 is, for example, a Global Positioning System (GPS) or a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and acquires position information indicating the current position of the vehicle 1 .

[0026] The camera 32 is a camera including an imaging element such as a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor). The camera 32 acquires captured images of the surroundings of the vehicle 1, including the area ahead of the vehicle 1, and transmits the captured images to the vehicle control device 10 in accordance with a communication standard such as in-vehicle Ethernet ("Ethernet" is a registered trademark) or MIPIA-PHY. The camera 32 may be configured as a monocular camera or a stereo camera. The camera 32 may also be provided in the light distribution control device 20.

[0027] The radar 33 includes at least one of a millimeter wave radar, a microwave radar, and a laser radar (e.g., a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging or Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) unit). For example, the LiDAR unit is configured to detect an object ahead of the vehicle 1.

[0028] 1 , the light distribution control device 20 is connected to the radar 33 via the vehicle control device 10. In the light distribution control process described below, the light distribution control device 20 may use detection results from the radar 33 in addition to position information from the position sensor 31 and images captured by the camera 32. However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and the light distribution control device 20 may be configured not to use detection results from the radar 33 in the light distribution control process.

[0029] The vehicle lamp 21 includes a light source unit (not shown). The light source unit may include, for example, a plurality of LED elements arranged in a matrix. In this case, the light distribution control device 20 can control the on / off of each LED element to switch between lighting and non-lighting of any area within the irradiatable area, or can control the current value supplied to each LED element to change the illuminance of any area within the irradiatable area. [Vehicle Control Device]

[0030] The vehicle control device 10 controls the driving of the vehicle 1. The vehicle control device 10 is configured, for example, by at least one electronic control unit (ECU). The electronic control unit includes a computer system (e.g., a System on a Chip (SoC)) including one or more processors and one or more memories, and an electronic circuit configured of active elements such as transistors and passive elements.

[0031] The processor includes, for example, at least one of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), and a TPU (Tensor Processing Unit).

[0032] The memory includes a read-only memory (ROM) and a random access memory (RAM). The ROM stores, for example, a vehicle control program. The RAM temporarily stores, for example, vehicle control data, current position information, and current traveling direction information.

[0033] The vehicle control device 10 includes a sensor control unit 11 and an imaging control unit 12. The sensor control unit 11 controls a position sensor 31. The imaging control unit 12 controls a camera 32 and a radar 33. [Light distribution control device]

[0034] The light distribution control device 20 includes a lamp control unit (control unit) 22 , an image acquisition unit 25 , a position information acquisition unit 23 , a traveling direction information acquisition unit 24 , and a storage unit 27 .

[0035] The position information acquisition unit 23 acquires the position information acquired by the position sensor 31 via the sensor control unit 11 .

[0036] The travel direction information acquisition unit 24 acquires the current travel direction information of the vehicle 1 by calculating the amount of change between the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 23 and the position information acquired immediately before that position information.

[0037] The image acquisition unit 25 acquires the current captured image acquired by the camera 32 and the radar 33 via the imaging control unit 12 .

[0038] The storage unit 27 is, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), or a flash memory.

[0039] The luminaire control unit 22 includes a creation unit 22 A and a light distribution control unit 22 B. The luminaire control unit 22 acquires position information from a position information acquisition unit 23, traveling direction information from a traveling direction information acquisition unit 24, and a captured image from an image acquisition unit 25.

[0040] The creation unit 22A in the lamp control unit 22 creates light spot information 27A regarding light spots present around the vehicle 1 based on position information, traveling direction information, and captured images acquired during past travel of the vehicle 1. The light spot information 27A includes the position of the vehicle 1 at a past point in time, the traveling direction at that point in time, and the positions of light spots in the captured images captured at that point in time. The creation unit 22A then stores the created light spot information 27A in the storage unit 27.

[0041] The light distribution control unit 22B in the lamp control unit 22 controls the light distribution pattern of the vehicle lamp 21 based on the light spot information 27A stored in the memory unit 27, current position information, current traveling direction information, and the current captured image. For example, the light distribution control unit 22B can switch between illumination and non-illumination and change the illuminance of any area within the illumination-capable area. <Description of the Problem>

[0042] Fig. 2 is a diagram for explaining a problem with a light distribution control device according to a comparative example. As shown on the left side of Fig. 2, it is assumed that a current captured image contains light points from street lights, signs, and other vehicles that are moving bodies.

[0043] In such a case, the light distribution control device according to the comparative example may erroneously detect all light points from streetlights, signs, and other vehicles as being from other vehicles. If such erroneous detection occurs, the light distribution pattern of the vehicle lamp may be controlled so as not to illuminate or to reduce the amount of illumination not only for light points from other vehicles but also for light points such as signs and streetlights that should be illuminated, as shown on the right side of Fig. 2. Note that in Fig. 2, the area illuminated by light from the vehicle lamp is hatched.

[0044] In contrast, in the light distribution control device 20 according to the present disclosure, as described above, the light distribution control unit 22B uses the light spot information 27A created by the creation unit 22A to more appropriately control the light distribution pattern of the vehicle lamp. Below, details of the creation and storage of the light spot information 27A by the creation unit 22A and the light distribution control by the light distribution control unit 22B will be described. <Creation and storage of light spot information> [Overall flow]

[0045] 3 is a flowchart for explaining the overall flow of the light spot information creation process by the creation unit 22 A. First, when the creation unit 22 A acquires a captured image from the image acquisition unit 25 (step S11), it performs a detection process to detect one or more light spots included in the captured image (step S12).

[0046] Next, the creating unit 22A creates provisional light spot information 27A for each detected light spot, which associates the position of the vehicle 1 at the time of capturing the captured image, the traveling direction of the vehicle 1 at the time of capturing the image, and the position of the light spot in the captured image (step S13). Note that the light spot information 27A at this point does not include tracking tags or type information, which will be described later.

[0047] Next, the creation unit 22A identifies the same light spot that appears in multiple consecutive captured images, and performs tracking processing of the light spot from the time the light spot appears in the captured images to the time the light spot disappears from the captured images. Then, the creation unit 22A adds the same tracking tag to multiple pieces of light spot information 27A related to the same light spot (step S14).

[0048] Next, the creation unit 22A acquires the feature amount of the light spot based on the plurality of pieces of light spot information 27A to which the same tracking tag is attached (step S15).

[0049] 4 is a table showing an example of feature quantities used to determine the type of light spot. As shown in FIG. 4, the feature quantities of the target object include, for example, the X and Y coordinates in the captured image when it appears, the X and Y coordinates in the captured image when it disappears, and the average, maximum, and minimum values ​​of the number of pixels in the captured image. The X and Y coordinates in the captured image are, for example, with the center position of the captured image as the origin, and the horizontal position of the area containing the light spot (hereinafter referred to as the "light spot area") is the X coordinate, and the vertical position of the light spot is the Y coordinate.

[0050] The feature amount of the target object includes, for example, the number of frames of the captured image that have been tracked, the direction of movement from the time of appearance to the time of disappearance in the captured image, the total amount of movement, and the amount of movement per frame.

[0051] The feature quantities of the target include, for example, the difference in X coordinate, the difference in Y coordinate, the sum of the X coordinate, and the sum of the Y coordinate between when the target appears and when it disappears in the captured image. The feature quantities of the target also include, for example, the average values ​​of the R (Red) value, G (Green) value, B (Blue) value, H (Hue) value, S (Saturation) value, and V (Value) values ​​in the captured image, as well as the difference between when the target appears and when it disappears. The feature quantities of the target also include, for example, the average value of circularity, the circularity at when the target appears, the circularity at when it disappears, and the difference in circularity between when the target appears and when it disappears.

[0052] 3, the creation unit 22A performs a type determination process to determine the type of the target object, which is the light spot, by using the acquired feature amounts, for example, in a type determination program stored in advance (step S16). The type of target object is a street light, a sign, etc.

[0053] The type determination program is, for example, a program constructed by supervised learning using a multi-layer neural network. For example, the type determination program may be an analysis algorithm using supervised learning, such as LightGBM.

[0054] Next, the creation unit 22A adds type information indicating the determined type to each piece of light spot information 27A used to acquire the feature amount (step S17), and then the creation unit 22A stores the light spot information 27A created by this process in the storage unit 27 (step S18).

[0055] 5 is a diagram showing an example of a database of light spot information 27A created by the creation unit 22A. Each piece of light spot information 27A shown in FIG. 5 includes latitude and longitude indicating the position of the vehicle 1, an angle indicating the traveling direction of the vehicle 1 with north being 0 degrees, target type information, XY coordinates of the light spot area in the captured image, and a tracking tag. The target type information is information indicating what type of target the light spot is. For example, the target type information is information indicating that the light spot is another vehicle, that the light spot is a street light, that the light spot is a sign, etc.

[0056] For example, one piece of light spot information 27A shown in Figure 5 indicates that the type information of the light spot included in a captured image taken in a situation where the latitude of vehicle 1 is 35.10839 degrees, the longitude of vehicle 1 is 138.362 degrees, and the traveling direction of vehicle 1 is -40.8264 degrees is 3. For example, when the type information is 3, the light spot indicates a street light. Furthermore, the light spot information 27A further indicates that the X coordinate of the light spot area including the light spot is in the range of 3.4375 to 3.6666667, the Y coordinate of the light spot area is 4.5037037 to 4.68148148, and the tracking tag is 328. [Light Spot Detection Process]

[0057] FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining in detail the flow of operations when the creation unit 22A performs the light spot detection process in step S12 of FIG.

[0058] 6, the creation unit 22A performs grayscale conversion processing on the captured image (step S21). Next, the creation unit 22A performs blurring processing on the captured image using a Gaussian filter or the like to remove noise (step S22). Next, the creation unit 22A performs binarization processing on the captured image (step S23) and labels each group of pixels converted to white (step S24).

[0059] Next, the creation unit 22A acquires information such as coordinates, area, and shape for each labeled pixel group (step S25). Then, based on the acquired information, the creation unit 22A excludes pixel groups that satisfy predetermined conditions, such as pixel groups with elongated shapes or pixel groups whose area is equal to or less than a predetermined value, from the plurality of labeled pixel groups (step S26). This makes it possible to exclude light reflected from white lines, etc., from the objects to be determined as types of targets. [Light Point Tracking Process]

[0060] FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining in detail the flow of operations when the creation unit 22A performs the light spot tracking process in step S14 of FIG.

[0061] As shown in FIG. 7, the creation unit 22A acquires a captured image of the Nth frame and a captured image of the N+1th frame (step S31).

[0062] Next, the creation unit 22A checks whether the change in coordinates of the light spot area in the captured image of the Nth frame and the N+1th frame is within a predetermined range (step S32). If the change is within the predetermined range ("YES" in step S32), the creation unit 22A determines that the light points in these light spot areas are the same target (step S33).

[0063] The creating unit 22A then associates the light spot information corresponding to these light spot areas with each other. That is, as described above, the creating unit 22A attaches the same tracking tag to these corresponding light spot information (step S14 shown in FIG. 3). By repeating this process, the creating unit 22A can track light spots that are the same target.

[0064] On the other hand, if the change is not within the predetermined range ("NO" in step S32), the creation unit 22A determines that the light points reflected in each of these light point areas are different targets (step S34), and ends the tracking process.

[0065] The method of associating light spot areas that represent the same target with each other is not limited to the above method. For example, the creation unit 22A may be configured to perform light spot tracking processing using an extended Kalman filter or the like. [Storage of Light Spot Information]

[0066] 8 is a diagram for explaining details of the storage process of the light spot information created by the creation unit 22A. As shown in FIG. 8, the creation unit 22A divides the area indicated by the map information into a plurality of areas and stores the light spot information 27A for each area. Specifically, the creation unit 22A performs primary mesh processing to divide the area indicated by the map information into a plurality of areas, for example, by dividing the area in east-west directions by 2 / 3 degrees of latitude and by dividing the area in north-south directions by 1 degree of longitude.

[0067] The creating unit 22A also performs secondary mesh processing to divide each area that has undergone primary mesh processing into smaller areas, for example, by dividing the area into eight equal parts in each of the east-west and north-south directions.

[0068] Furthermore, the creation unit 22A performs a tertiary mesh process to divide each area that has undergone the secondary mesh process into smaller areas, for example, by dividing it into 10 equal parts in each of the east-west and north-south directions.The creation unit 22A then stores, for each area that has undergone the tertiary mesh process, light spot information 27A created from the captured image of that area.

[0069] Specifically, the creating unit 22A creates a folder for storing the light spot information 27A for each area that has been subjected to the tertiary mesh processing. Then, every time the creating unit 22A creates the light spot information 27A, it identifies the area and stores the light spot information 27A in the folder for the identified area.

[0070] The creation unit 22A repeatedly creates and stores the light spot information 27A upon acquiring the position information, progress report information, and captured images. As a result, a plurality of pieces of light spot information 27A are accumulated in the storage unit 27. <Light distribution control by the light distribution control unit>

[0071] 9 is a flowchart illustrating the overall flow of light distribution control performed by the light distribution control unit 22B. First, the light distribution control unit 22B identifies an area that includes the current position of the vehicle 1 from among the multiple areas for which tertiary mesh processing has been performed, based on current position information (step S51).

[0072] Next, the light distribution control unit 22B identifies one or more pieces of light spot information 27A, from the light spot information 27A stored in the folder corresponding to the identified area, that include past position information and traveling direction information that respectively match the position and traveling direction of the current vehicle 1. For example, the light distribution control unit 22B identifies light spot information 27A that includes a past position of the vehicle 1 within a range of a predetermined radius R from the current position of the vehicle 1 and includes a past traveling direction of the vehicle 1 within a range of a predetermined angle S from the traveling direction of the current vehicle 1 (step S52).

[0073] Next, the light distribution control unit 22B detects light spot areas included in the current captured image (step S53). Next, the light distribution control unit 22B identifies light spot areas included in the current captured image that include light spots other than those of the moving object, based on the plurality of light spot information 27A identified in step S52 (step S54).

[0074] The plurality of pieces of light spot information 27A extracted by the light distribution control unit 22B often include a plurality of pieces of light spot information 27A for the same target, i.e., a plurality of pieces of light spot information 27A including the same tracking tag. For this reason, the light distribution control unit 22B performs an integration process for collectively handling the plurality of pieces of light spot information 27A for the same target (step S55).

[0075] 10 is a diagram for explaining the integration process performed by the light distribution control unit 22B. More specifically, first, the light distribution control unit 22B integrates a plurality of pieces of light spot information 27A having the same tracking tag for each travel of the vehicle 1.

[0076] Specifically, the light distribution control unit 22B acquires a first representative value of the XY coordinates of the light spot area indicated by each of the plurality of pieces of light spot information 27A having the same tracking tag from among the plurality of pieces of light spot information 27A acquired during the first travel of the vehicle 1. The first representative value is, for example, an average value or a median value of the XY coordinates indicated by each of the plurality of pieces of light spot information 27A.

[0077] Furthermore, the light distribution control unit 22B acquires first representative values ​​of the XY coordinates of the light spot areas indicated by each of the plurality of pieces of light spot information 27A having the same tracking tag, among the plurality of pieces of light spot information 27A acquired when the vehicle 1 travels through the same area for the second time. In this way, the light distribution control unit 22B integrates the plurality of pieces of light spot information 27A to acquire the first representative value each time the vehicle 1 travels.

[0078] Furthermore, the light distribution control unit 22B extracts, from the first representative values ​​for each run of the vehicle 1, multiple first representative values ​​whose X and Y coordinates of the light spot area indicated by each first representative value fall within a predetermined range, i.e., multiple first representative values ​​whose X and Y coordinate differences are small. The light distribution control unit 22B then obtains a second representative value that is a representative value of the multiple extracted first representative values. The second representative value is, for example, the average or median of the multiple first representative values. This allows the light distribution control unit 22B to combine multiple X and Y coordinates corresponding to the same target into a single X and Y coordinate.

[0079] The light distribution control unit 22B is not limited to a configuration that performs the above-described integration process, and may perform the integration process by using a clustering process such as the X-means method, for example.

[0080] Returning to the flowchart shown in FIG. 9, the light distribution control unit 22B compares the XY coordinates in the captured image with the XY coordinates of the second representative values ​​for each light spot area included in the current captured image.

[0081] Here, it is assumed that the difference between the light spot area included in the current captured image and the XY coordinates of the second representative value is equal to or less than a predetermined value. In this case, the light distribution control unit 22B determines that the light spot included in the light spot area is the same as the target object common to the plurality of light spot information 27A used to obtain the second representative value. In this way, the light distribution control unit 22B determines the target object for each light spot area included in the current captured image (step S56).

[0082] Then, when the type of the light spot included in the current captured image is a moving object, the light distribution control unit 22B controls the light distribution pattern so that the periphery of the light spot is not illuminated or the amount of light illuminated around the periphery of the light spot is reduced.On the other hand, when the type of the light spot included in the current captured image is other than a moving object, the light distribution control unit 22B controls the light distribution pattern so that the periphery of the light spot is illuminated without reducing the amount of light illuminated around the light spot (step S57).

[0083] Fig. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a light distribution pattern controlled by light distribution control unit 22B. Here, similar to the captured image shown in Fig. 2, the current captured image includes light spot area 40A where light spots from street lamp 40 are captured, light spot area 41A where light spots from sign 41 are captured, and light spot area 42A where light spots from another vehicle 42, which is a moving body (left side of Fig. 11).

[0084] In such a case, the light distribution control unit 22B can identify that the light spot areas 40A and 41A are light spots of a target other than a moving object, and that the light spot area 42A is a light spot of a target that is a moving object. Therefore, the light distribution control unit 22B can appropriately control the light distribution pattern so that the light spot areas 40A and 41A are irradiated with the same amount of light, and the light spot area 42A is irradiated with a smaller amount of light.

[0085] It should be noted that while vehicle 1 is traveling in an area where it is traveling for the first time, there is no light spot information 27A including past position information and traveling direction information that respectively match the current position and traveling direction of vehicle 1. For this reason, light distribution control unit 22B may be configured not to control the light distribution pattern as described above, for example, when the number of light spot information 27A including past position information and traveling direction information that respectively match the current position and traveling direction of vehicle 1 is less than a predetermined value.

[0086] That is, in such a case, the light distribution control unit 22B, like the light distribution control device of the comparative example described above, controls the light distribution pattern so that light from the vehicle lamp 21 is not irradiated onto all of the light spot areas 40A, 41A, and 42A included in the captured image shown in Figure 11, or the amount of light irradiated is reduced.

[0087] As described above, in the light distribution control device 20 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, the lamp control unit 22 controls the light distribution pattern based on the position information acquired during past driving, the traveling direction information acquired during the past driving, and light spot information including type information of targets that are light spots in the captured image captured during the past driving, as well as the current position information and the current captured image.

[0088] With this configuration, it is possible to estimate the target of the light spot in the current captured image and determine whether or not the light distribution of the vehicle lamp should be irradiated onto the light spot, or whether or not the amount of light irradiated should be reduced, thereby more appropriately controlling the light distribution pattern of the vehicle headlamp and more reliably irradiating the object to be illuminated.

[0089] Furthermore, in the light distribution control device 20, when the type of a target that is a light point included in the current captured image is a moving object, the lamp control unit 22 controls the light distribution pattern so that the periphery of the light point is not illuminated or the amount of light illuminated around the periphery of the light point is reduced. On the other hand, when the type of a target that is a light point included in the current captured image is other than a moving object, the lamp control unit 22 controls the light distribution pattern so that the periphery of the light point is illuminated without reducing the amount of light illuminated around the light point.

[0090] In this way, visibility can be ensured by illuminating objects that need to be illuminated, such as signs and streetlights, and by reducing illumination for moving objects, dazzling of the moving objects can be prevented, thereby improving safety.

[0091] Furthermore, in the light distribution control device 20, the creation unit 22A identifies a plurality of pieces of light spot information 27A of the same target from a plurality of pieces of light spot information 27A based on a plurality of consecutively acquired captured images. Furthermore, the creation unit 22A acquires feature amounts of the target based on the identified plurality of pieces of light spot information 27A, and determines the type of the target based on the acquired feature amounts.

[0092] In this way, by using a plurality of pieces of light spot information for the same target, the type of the target can be determined more accurately.

[0093] In addition, in the light distribution control device 20, the creation unit 22A identifies multiple light spot information 27A of the target based on multiple captured images acquired during the period from the appearance to the disappearance of the same target, out of multiple captured images acquired consecutively.

[0094] In this way, by using captured images from the appearance to disappearance of a target to determine the type of the target, the accuracy of type determination can be further improved.

[0095] Furthermore, in the light distribution control device 20, the light spot information 27A created by the creation unit 22A further indicates the position of the light spot in the captured image. Furthermore, when the position of the light spot in the captured image indicated by each piece of light spot information 27A among the multiple pieces of light spot information 27A for the same target falls within a predetermined range, the lamp control unit 22 obtains a representative value of the position indicated by each piece of light spot information 27A and controls the light distribution pattern using the representative value.

[0096] With this configuration, the amount of data used to control the light distribution pattern can be reduced.

[0097] Furthermore, in the light distribution control device 20 , the creating unit 22A creates new light spot information 27A based on the newly acquired captured image, and records the newly created light spot information in the storage unit 27 .

[0098] With this configuration, it is possible to add or update the light spot information, and it is possible to more appropriately control the light distribution pattern of the vehicle headlamp.

[0099] In the light distribution control device 20, the light spot information created by the creation unit 22A is divided into one of a plurality of sets and recorded according to the imaging position of the captured image used to create the information. The lamp control unit 22 identifies one of the plurality of sets based on newly acquired position information, and controls the light distribution pattern based on one or more pieces of light spot information 27A included in the identified set.

[0100] With this configuration, it is possible to reduce the amount of data of the light spot information that is read when controlling the light distribution pattern.

[0101] Furthermore, in the light distribution control device 20, the lamp control unit 22 controls the light distribution pattern so that the periphery of the light spot in the current captured image is not illuminated or the amount of light illuminated around the light spot is reduced when the number of light spot information 27A including past position information and traveling direction information that respectively match the current position and traveling direction of the vehicle 1 is less than a predetermined value. On the other hand, when the number is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the lamp control unit 22 determines the type of target that is the light spot in the current captured image based on the light spot information, current position information, and current captured image, and when it determines that the target is other than a moving object, controls the light distribution pattern so that the periphery of the target is illuminated without reducing the amount of light illuminated around the target.

[0102] Furthermore, in the light distribution control device 20, when traveling at the same location, the lamp control unit 22 controls the light distribution pattern so that, for light spots that appear in the acquired captured image, the periphery of at least some of the light spots is not illuminated or the amount of illumination light is reduced for all light spots during the first traveling when light spot information 27A is not recorded. On the other hand, during normal traveling when light spot information 27A is recorded, the lamp control unit 22 controls the light distribution pattern so that the periphery of at least some of the light spots from targets that are not moving objects is illuminated without reducing the amount of illumination light.

[0103] In the first embodiment described above, an example has been described in which the light distribution control device 20 acquires the light spot information 27A and controls the light distribution of the vehicle lamp 21 based on the acquired light spot information 27A, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, the vehicle 1 may be provided with a device that acquires the light spot information 27A and a device that controls the light distribution based on the light spot information 27A, separately. (Second Embodiment) <Configuration of the Vehicle Headlamp System>

[0104] A vehicle headlight system 200 according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to Figures 12 and 13. Figure 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle headlight system 200. Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle 101 equipped with the vehicle headlight system 200.

[0105] As shown in FIG. 12 , the vehicle headlamp system 200 includes a vehicle control device 110 and a light distribution control device 120. The vehicle control device 110 is configured to control the driving of the vehicle 101. The vehicle control device 110 is configured, for example, by at least one electronic control unit (ECU). The electronic control unit includes a computer system (e.g., SoC, etc.) including one or more processors and one or more memories, and an electronic circuit configured of active elements such as transistors and passive elements. The processor includes, for example, at least one of a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, an MPU, a GPU, and a TPU. The memory includes a ROM and a RAM. A vehicle control program may be stored in the ROM. The RAM may temporarily store the vehicle control program, vehicle control data, and / or vehicle position information, traveling direction information, and light spot information. The light spot information is information regarding light spots included in a captured image ahead of the vehicle 101. The processor may be configured to load a specified program from various vehicle control programs stored in the ROM onto the RAM and execute various processes in cooperation with the RAM.

[0106] The vehicle control device 110 includes a sensor control unit 111 and an imaging control unit 112. The sensor control unit 111 is configured to control a position sensor 131 mounted on the vehicle 101. The imaging control unit 112 is configured to control a camera 132 and a radar 133 mounted on the vehicle 101.

[0107] The position sensor 131 is, for example, a GPS, and is capable of acquiring current position information of the vehicle 101 .

[0108] The camera 132 is a camera including an imaging element such as a CCD or a CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor). The camera 132 is configured to acquire an image of the area ahead of the vehicle 101 and transmit the image to the imaging control unit 112. The camera 132 may be configured as a monocular camera or a stereo camera.

[0109] The radar 133 includes at least one of a millimeter wave radar, a microwave radar, and a laser radar (e.g., a LiDAR unit). For example, the LiDAR unit is configured to detect an object ahead of the vehicle 101. In particular, the LiDAR unit is configured to acquire 3D mapping data (point cloud data) indicating the environment ahead of the vehicle 101, and then transmit the 3D mapping data to the imaging control unit 112.

[0110] The light distribution control device 120 includes a vehicle headlamp 121 , a headlamp control unit 122 , an image acquisition unit 125 , a position information acquisition unit 123 , a traveling direction information acquisition unit 124 , and a storage unit 127 .

[0111] The vehicle headlight 121 emits visible light to an area ahead of the vehicle 101. The vehicle headlight 121 is composed of, for example, a right headlight 121A (see FIG. 13 ) and a left headlight 121B (see FIG. 13 ). The right headlight 121A and the left headlight 121B each have a light source unit (not shown) in which a plurality of light emitting units, each capable of individually changing the amount of light emitted, are arranged in a matrix. In the following description, by controlling the amount of light emitted from each light emitting unit (including the concept of whether or not light is emitted), it is possible to switch between irradiating and not irradiating light for each arbitrary area, or to change the illuminance of light for each arbitrary area.

[0112] The position information acquisition unit 123 acquires the current position information of the vehicle 101 acquired by the position sensor 131 via the sensor control unit 111 .

[0113] The traveling direction information acquisition unit 124 acquires the current traveling direction information of the vehicle 101 by calculating the amount of change from the immediately preceding position information for the current position information of the vehicle 101 from the position information acquisition unit 123 .

[0114] The image acquisition unit 125 acquires the current captured images acquired by the camera 132 and the radar 133 via the imaging control unit 112 .

[0115] The storage unit 127 is, for example, an HDD, an SSD, or a flash memory, and is configured to store programs and various data (light spot information 127A, position information 127B, traveling direction information 127C, etc.).

[0116] The headlamp control unit 122 includes a light distribution control unit 122A. The light distribution control unit 122A receives a current captured image from the image acquisition unit 125, receives current position information of the vehicle 101 from the position information acquisition unit 123, and receives current traveling direction information of the vehicle 101 from the traveling direction information acquisition unit 124. The light distribution control unit 122A also searches for past position information and past traveling direction information stored in the storage unit 127 that match the current position and current traveling direction of the vehicle 101. The light distribution control unit 122A also acquires past light spot information 127A linked to the past position information and the past traveling direction information from the storage unit 127. Note that the above term "match" includes the difference between the current position and the past position information and the difference between the current traveling direction and the past traveling direction information being within a predetermined range, respectively. Furthermore, the light distribution control unit 122A determines whether or not a light spot included in the current captured image is a light spot from a moving object such as another vehicle, based on the current position information of the vehicle 101, the current traveling direction information of the vehicle 101, and past light spot information, and controls the illumination range of the vehicle headlight 121 based on the determination result. The light distribution control unit 122A can, for example, control the expansion or contraction of the illumination range of the vehicle headlight 121 and the movement of the illumination direction in the left / right and up / down directions. <Captured Image>

[0117] Next, the captured image of the area ahead of the vehicle 101 will be described below with reference to FIG.

[0118] FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a captured image of the area ahead of vehicle 101 captured by camera 132. In the example shown in FIG. 14, the captured image includes light spots from streetlights, signs, and other vehicles that are moving objects. Light distribution control unit 122A first detects light spot areas 140A, 141A, and 142A from the captured image, acquires light spot information related to the light spots in each area, and stores the light spot information in storage unit 127. Furthermore, light distribution control unit 122A determines whether light spots included in the current captured image are light spots from other vehicles that are moving objects, based on past light spot information 127A stored in storage unit 127. <Light Spot Information>

[0119] Next, the light spot information will be described below with reference to FIG.

[0120] FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the format of light spot information. As shown in FIG. 15, light spot information 127A has, as feature quantities, X and Y coordinates within the captured image, the number of pixels within an area (e.g., a circular area or a rectangular area) containing the light spot, color including hue H, saturation S, and brightness V, and circularity. The X and Y coordinates within the captured image are, for example, with the center position of the captured image as the origin, and the horizontal position of the light spot is the X coordinate and the vertical position of the light spot is the Y coordinate. The circularity is a value expressed as a percentage indicating how close each light spot is to becoming circular. Each light spot information 127A is assigned a light spot information ID, and is linked to an acquisition time indicating the time when the light spot information 127A was acquired, position information 127B of the vehicle 101 at the time the light spot information 127A was acquired, and traveling direction information 127C of the vehicle 101. The position information 127B of the vehicle 101 is composed of, for example, latitude and longitude obtained from map information. The traveling direction information of the vehicle 101 is expressed in, for example, 16 directions. As an example, light spot information 127A with a light spot information ID of 0001 is information acquired at 7:16 on January 21, 2020, and indicates that the traveling direction information of the vehicle 101 is east-northeast at a position of longitude 139.6917 and latitude 35.6894. <Light spot information collection processing flow>

[0121] Next, the collection process flow of the light spot information 127A will be described below with reference to FIGS.

[0122] 16 is a flowchart showing light distribution control using light spot information. First, the position information acquisition unit 123 acquires current position information of the vehicle 101 at predetermined intervals, the traveling direction information acquisition unit 124 acquires traveling direction information of the vehicle 101 at predetermined intervals, and the image acquisition unit 125 acquires captured images of the current area ahead of the vehicle 101 at predetermined intervals (S201). Next, the light distribution control unit 122A acquires light spot information related to light spots included in the current captured images (S202). Next, the light distribution control unit 122A searches for past position information and past traveling direction information that match the current position information and current traveling direction information from multiple past position information and past traveling direction information stored in the storage unit 127. Furthermore, the light distribution control unit 122A acquires past light spot information 127A linked to the past position information and past traveling direction information from the storage unit 127 (S203).

[0123] Next, the light distribution control unit 122A determines whether the number of times that past position information and past traveling direction information that match the current position information and the current traveling direction, respectively, have been acquired is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (S204).

[0124] If the number of acquisitions is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (Yes in S204), the process proceeds to step S206. In step S206, the light distribution control unit 122A first calculates a first feature amount of the current light spot information and a first feature amount of the past light spot information. Here, the first feature amount is, for example, the X and Y coordinates in the captured image, the number of pixels in the area including the light spot, color including hue H, saturation S, and brightness V, and circularity. The light source information also includes at least two feature amounts as the first feature amount. For example, the light source information includes the X coordinate in the captured image and the Y coordinate in the captured image as the first feature amount. Next, the light distribution control unit 122A maps the current light spot information and the past light spot information onto a two-dimensional feature amount space consisting of two of the first feature amounts. FIG. 17 shows an example of a graph in which the light spots included in the current captured image and the past captured images shown in FIG. 14 are mapped in a two-dimensional feature amount space with the horizontal axis representing the X coordinate, which is one of the first feature amounts, and the vertical axis representing the Y coordinate, which is one of the first feature amounts. 17, light points from street lamp 140 are mapped to sample area 150, light points from sign 141 to sample area 151, and light points from other vehicle 142 to sample area 152. Note that light distribution control unit 122A does not specify the origin of each light point. The expression "light points from street lamp 140" is used merely to distinguish between each light point for convenience of explanation.

[0125] Next, the light distribution control unit 122A determines whether the density of the number of samples of each light spot included in the current captured image is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (S207). The reason for determining the density of the number of samples of each light spot is that street lamps 140 and signs 141 are always present in the same location, while other vehicles 142 are not always present in the same location. Specifically, past captured images captured at the current position of the vehicle 101 and in the current traveling direction of the vehicle 101 include light spots from street lamps 140 and signs 141, and the feature values ​​of the light spot information for these light spots are similar between the current and past images. This results in a high density of samples in the feature space, as shown in sample areas 150 and 151 in FIG. 17. On the other hand, past captured images captured at the current position of the vehicle 101 and in the current traveling direction of the vehicle 101 do not include light spots from other vehicles 142, and the density of samples in the feature space is low, as shown in sample area 152 in FIG. 17. In this way, it is possible to determine whether the light spots included in the current captured image are light spots from a moving object based on the density of the number of samples of each light spot.In the second embodiment, in step S207, it is determined whether the density of the number of samples of each light spot included in the current captured image is equal to or greater than a predetermined value based on the light spots included in the past captured images and the light spots included in the current captured image, but the determination may also be made based only on the light spots included in the past captured images.This makes it possible to improve the real-time performance of the determination process.

[0126] If the density is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (Yes in S207), the feature of the current light spot information and the first feature of the past light spot information 127A are calculated and mapped onto a one-dimensional feature space consisting of one of the second feature (S208). Here, the second feature is, for example, the XY coordinate in the captured image, the number of pixels in the area including the light spot, color including hue H, saturation S, and brightness V, and circularity, and the first feature and the second feature may be at least partially the same or different. Figure 18 shows a graph in which light spots included in the current captured image and light spots included in the past captured images are mapped in a feature space with brightness V, one of the feature, on the horizontal axis.

[0127] Next, the light distribution control unit 122A determines whether the second feature value (brightness V) of the light spot information of each light spot included in the current captured image is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value Th (S209). The reason for determining the second feature value of each light spot is that if a traffic jam or the like occurs at at least one of the current and past positions of the vehicle 101 and multiple other vehicles 142 are present, it may be difficult to accurately determine whether the light spot included in the current captured image is a light spot from a moving object based solely on the determination criteria of step S205. Specifically, even if the past captured image did not include light spots from other vehicles 142, the current captured image in the event of a traffic jam or the like will include multiple light spots from other vehicles 142, resulting in a high density of samples in the sample area 152 in FIG. 17. Therefore, in the event of a traffic jam or the like, it may be difficult to determine whether the light spot included in the current captured image is a light spot from a moving object based solely on the density of the sample value of each light spot. Therefore, the determination criterion for step S209 is set by utilizing the characteristic that light points from moving objects such as other vehicles 142 have a high brightness V, while light points from non-moving objects such as street lamps 140 and signs 141 have a low brightness V. This makes it possible to more accurately determine whether or not a light point included in the current captured image is a light point from a moving object, even if the density of the number of samples in sample area 152 is high, as shown in Fig. 18 .

[0128] If the second feature amount of the light point information of a light point included in the current captured image is not equal to or greater than a preset threshold value Th (No in S209), the light distribution control unit 122A determines that the light point is not a light point from a moving object (S210). On the other hand, if the density of the number of samples of the light point included in the current captured image is not equal to or greater than a predetermined value (No in S207), or if the light point included in the current captured image is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value Th (Yes in S209), the light distribution control unit 122A determines that the light point is a light point from a moving object (S211).

[0129] Next, based on the above determination result, the light distribution control unit 122A controls the vehicle headlight 121 to illuminate an area including light points from sources other than the moving object without reducing the amount of illumination light, and not illuminate or reduce the amount of illumination light in an area including light points from the moving object (S212). Fig. 19 is a diagram showing an example of a light distribution pattern of the vehicle headlight 121. In the example shown in Fig. 19, since it is determined that the light points from the street light 140 and the sign 141 are not from a moving object, the light distribution control unit 122A controls the light distribution so that the area 140A including the light points from the street light 140 and the area 141A including the light points from the sign 141 is illuminated without reducing the amount of illumination light. Furthermore, since it is determined that the light points from the other vehicle 142 are from a moving object, the light distribution control unit 122A controls the area 142A including the light points from the other vehicle 142 not to illuminate or reduce the amount of illumination light.

[0130] With the above configuration, by detecting light points from moving objects in the captured image, it is possible to prevent erroneous detection of objects to be illuminated as moving objects. Also, by illuminating objects to be illuminated, such as signs and streetlights, and not illuminating moving objects, it is possible to prevent dazzling of moving objects and improve safety.

[0131] As described above, the light distribution control device according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure is configured to control the light distribution of the vehicle headlights based on the current position information of the vehicle and the light spot information stored in the storage unit. For example, locations with a large number of pedestrians are identified as locations requiring caution when driving the vehicle and stored as light spot information. This makes it easier for the driver of the vehicle or another vehicle to notice the presence of pedestrians, etc., thereby improving the safety of the vehicle or another vehicle with high accuracy.

[0132] In addition, in the above-mentioned step S204, if it is determined that the number of times that past position information and past traveling direction information that respectively match the current position information and the current traveling direction have been acquired is less than a predetermined value (No in S204), the number of samples of past light point information necessary to determine whether or not the light point is from a moving body has not been acquired, and there is a risk that a light point from other than a moving body may be erroneously determined to be a light point from a moving body. Therefore, the light distribution control unit 122A may be configured to control the vehicle headlamp 121 so as not to illuminate or to reduce the amount of illumination in the area including the light point from other than a moving body and the area including the light point from the moving body (S205).

[0133] In the second embodiment described above, an example has been described in which the light distribution control device 120 acquires the light spot information 127A and controls the light distribution of the vehicle headlamp 121 based on the acquired light spot information 127A, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, the vehicle 101 may be provided with a device that acquires the light spot information 127A and a device that controls the light distribution based on the light spot information 127A, separately. (Third Embodiment)

[0134] <Configuration of Vehicle Headlight System> A vehicle headlight system 300 according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to Figures 20 and 21. Figure 20 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle headlight system 300. Figure 21 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle 201 equipped with the vehicle headlight system 300.

[0135] As shown in FIG. 20 , the vehicle headlamp system 300 includes a vehicle control device 210 and a light distribution control device 220. The vehicle control device 210 is configured to control the driving of a vehicle 201. The vehicle control device 210 is configured, for example, by at least one electronic control unit (ECU). The electronic control unit includes a computer system (e.g., SoC, etc.) including one or more processors and one or more memories, and an electronic circuit configured of active elements such as transistors and passive elements. The processor includes, for example, at least one of a CPU, an ASIC, an FPGA, an MPU, a GPU, and a TPU. The memory includes a ROM and a RAM. A vehicle control program may be stored in the ROM. The RAM may temporarily store the vehicle control program, vehicle control data, and / or vehicle position information, traveling direction information, and target-related information. The target-related information is information about targets around the vehicle 201. The processor may be configured to load a specified program from various vehicle control programs stored in the ROM onto the RAM and execute various processes in cooperation with the RAM.

[0136] The vehicle control device 210 includes a sensor control unit 211, a target object-related information generation unit 212, and a light distribution control command generation unit 213. The sensor control unit 211 is configured to control a position sensor 231 mounted on the vehicle 201. The target object-related information generation unit 212 generates target object-related information and transmits it to the light distribution control device 220. The light distribution control command generation unit 213 generates a light distribution control command for the vehicle headlamp 221 and transmits it to the light distribution control device 220.

[0137] The position sensor 231 is, for example, a GPS, and is capable of acquiring current position information of the vehicle 201 .

[0138] The light distribution control device 220 includes a vehicle headlamp 221 , a headlamp control unit 222 , a position information acquisition unit 223 , a traveling direction information acquisition unit 224 , and a storage unit 225 .

[0139] The vehicle headlight 221 emits visible light to an area ahead of the vehicle 201. The vehicle headlight 221 is composed of, for example, a right headlight 221A (see FIG. 21 ) and a left headlight 221B (see FIG. 21 ). The right headlight 221A and the left headlight 221B each have a light source unit (not shown) in which a plurality of light emitting units, each capable of individually changing the amount of light emitted, are arranged in a matrix. In the following description, by controlling the amount of light emitted from each light emitting unit (including the concept of whether or not light is emitted), it is possible to switch between irradiating and not irradiating light for each arbitrary area, or to change the illuminance of light for each arbitrary area.

[0140] The position information acquisition unit 223 acquires the current position information of the vehicle 201 acquired by the position sensor 231 via the sensor control unit 211 .

[0141] The traveling direction information acquisition unit 224 acquires the current traveling direction information of the vehicle 201 by calculating the amount of change from the immediately preceding position information for the current position information of the vehicle 201 from the position information acquisition unit 223 .

[0142] The storage unit 225 is, for example, an HDD, an SSD, or a flash memory, and is configured to store programs and various data (first identification result 225A, position information 225B, traveling direction information 225C, etc.).

[0143] The headlamp control unit 222 includes an identifier 222A and a light distribution control unit 222B. The identifier 222A receives target-related information from the target-related information generation unit 212, identifies a target based on the target-related information, and outputs an identification result (second identification result). The light distribution control unit 222B receives current position information of the vehicle 201 from the position information acquisition unit 223, current traveling direction information of the vehicle 201 from the traveling direction information acquisition unit 224, and a light distribution control command from the light distribution control command generation unit 213. The light distribution control unit 222B also searches for past position information and past traveling direction information that match the current position and current traveling direction of the vehicle 201 from multiple pieces of past position information and past traveling direction information stored in the storage unit 225. The light distribution control unit 222B also acquires from the storage unit 225 a past target identification result 225A (first identification result 225A) linked to the past position information and past traveling direction information. Note that the above-mentioned "match" includes the difference between the current position and past position information and the difference between the current traveling direction and past traveling direction information being within a predetermined range. Furthermore, the light distribution control unit 222B controls the illumination range of the vehicle headlight 221, etc., based on the light distribution control command from the light distribution control command generation unit 213, the first identification result, and the second identification result. The light distribution control unit 222B can, for example, control the expansion or contraction of the illumination range of the vehicle headlight 221 and the movement of the illumination direction in the left / right and up / down directions.

[0144] <Field of View of Vehicle> Next, the field of view of the driver of the vehicle 201 will be described below with reference to FIG.

[0145] FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an example of a field of view ahead of the vehicle 201. In the example illustrated in FIG. 22, the field of view includes targets, such as streetlights, signs, and other vehicles (moving objects). The target-related information generation unit 212 acquires an image ahead of the vehicle 201 from an image sensor (not illustrated), such as a camera mounted on the vehicle control device 210, and detects a region 240A including streetlights, a region 241A including signs, and a region 242A including moving objects. Furthermore, the target-related information generation unit 212 measures the distance from the vehicle 201 to targets in each region and the angle relative to the target, and generates distance information and angle information. The target-related information generation unit 212 also transmits the target-related information, including the distance information and angle information, to the headlight control unit 222. In the example illustrated in FIG. 22, the target-related information includes distance information and angle information for the region 240A including streetlights, the region 241A including signs, and the region 242A including moving objects, respectively. The target-related information generating unit 212 may generate a distance reliability indicating the reliability of the distance information and an angle reliability indicating the reliability of the angle information, and include these reliability in the target-related information.

[0146] The identifier 222A identifies the target based on the target-related information from the target-related information generation unit 212, and transmits the identification result to the light distribution control unit 222B and stores it in the storage unit 225. The identification result transmitted to the light distribution control unit 222B (second identification result) is used as reference data for light distribution control during current driving. The identification result stored in the storage unit 225 (first identification result 225A) is used as reference data for light distribution control during future driving.

[0147] <First Classification Result> Next, the classification result output by the classifier 222A will be described below with reference to FIG.

[0148] FIG. 23 is a diagram showing the formats of the first identification result 225A, position information 225B, and traveling direction information 225C. The first identification result 225A indicates whether the target is a street lamp, sign, delineator, or other vehicle (oncoming vehicle or preceding vehicle). Each first identification result 225A is assigned a target ID and is linked to an acquisition time indicating the time when the first identification result 225A was acquired, position information 225B of the vehicle 201 at the time the first identification result 225A was acquired, and traveling direction information 225C of the vehicle 201. The position information 225B of the vehicle 201 is composed of, for example, latitude and longitude obtained from map information. The traveling direction information of the vehicle 201 is expressed, for example, in 16 directions. The first identification result 225A is also tagged with the accuracy of the first identification result. The accuracy of the first identification result is determined manually after the classifier 222A outputs the first identification result 225A. The manual determination uses, for example, an image of the area ahead of the vehicle 201 captured by an image sensor such as a camera mounted on the vehicle control device 210. The reason for manually determining whether the first identification result is correct or incorrect is that if the identification accuracy of the classifier 222A is low, for example, the classifier 222A may erroneously detect a delineator as a preceding vehicle, and therefore tagging the correctness of the first identification result improves the identification accuracy of the classifier 222A.

[0149] 23 , as an example, first identification result 225A with target ID 0001 is an oncoming vehicle, and this first identification result is information acquired at 7:16 on January 21, 2020, and indicates that the traveling direction information of vehicle 201 is east-northeast at a position of longitude 139.6917 and latitude 35.6894. Furthermore, first identification result 225A with target ID 0001 is tagged as a correctly identified result.

[0150] <Classifier> Next, the configuration of the classifier 222A will be described.

[0151] The classifier 222A is, for example, a trained model of supervised learning. Specifically, the classifier 222A learns using the distance information and angle information transmitted from the target-related information generation unit 212 as training data and the correctness or incorrectness of the first classification result determined manually as correct answer data. The trained model may be a neural network composed of multiple layers, and the model may be updated at a predetermined time interval or a predetermined traveling distance.

[0152] With the above configuration, the identification accuracy of the identifier 222A is improved depending on the number of times that position information and traveling direction information acquired during past traveling that respectively match the current position information and traveling direction information of the vehicle 201 are acquired. The accuracy of the light distribution control of the headlamp control unit 222 is also improved. Specifically, depending on the number of times of acquisition, the identifier 222A is more likely to control light distribution so as to illuminate an area including the target without reducing the amount of light irradiation when it is determined that the target during current traveling is not a moving object. Furthermore, depending on the number of times of acquisition, the identifier 222A is more likely to control light distribution so as not to illuminate an area including the target or to reduce the amount of light irradiation when it is determined that the target during current traveling is a moving object.

[0153] <Target Identification Processing Flow> Next, with reference to FIG. 24, a target identification processing flow during current traveling will be described below.

[0154] 24 is a flowchart showing a process flow for identifying targets during current travel. First, the classifier 222A acquires current target-related information of the vehicle 201 at predetermined intervals from the target-related information generation unit 212 (S301). Next, the classifier 222A outputs an identification result (second identification result) from the current target-related information (S302). Next, the light distribution control unit 222B acquires current position information of the vehicle 201 at predetermined intervals via the position information acquisition unit 223, acquires traveling direction information of the vehicle 201 at predetermined intervals via the traveling direction information acquisition unit 224, and receives a light distribution control command from the light distribution control command generation unit 213 (S303).

[0155] Next, the light distribution control unit 222B searches for past position information and past traveling direction information that match the current position information and current traveling direction information from among the multiple pieces of past position information and past traveling direction information stored in the storage unit 225. The light distribution control unit 222B also acquires past identification results (first identification results 225A) linked to the past position information and past traveling direction information from the storage unit 225 (S304). The light distribution control unit 222B also calculates the proportion of the first identification results 225A and the second identification results that are identified as moving objects, and determines whether the proportion is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (S305). If the identification result is an oncoming vehicle or a preceding vehicle, the moving object count is incremented. Furthermore, if the first identification result 225A is tagged as an incorrect identification result even though it is a preceding vehicle, as in the case of target ID 0002 shown in FIG. 23 , the non-moving object count is incremented. In addition, since the classification accuracy of the classifier 222A improves depending on the number of times the first classification result 225A is output, in order to better reflect the classification result with the most recent acquisition time shown in Figure 23, the classification result may be weighted to calculate the percentage of the above-mentioned moving body.

[0156] If the proportion of the first identification result 225A and the second identification result that are moving bodies is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (Yes in S305), the light distribution control unit 222B determines that the target is a moving body (S306), and if the proportion of the first identification result 225A and the second identification result that are moving bodies is not equal to or greater than the predetermined value (No in S305), the light distribution control unit 222B determines that the target is not a moving body (S307).

[0157] Next, based on the light distribution control command and the above-mentioned determination result, the light distribution control unit 222B controls the vehicle headlamp 221 to illuminate an area including light points from sources other than the moving object without reducing the amount of illumination light, and to not illuminate or to reduce the amount of illumination light, an area including light points from the moving object (S308). More specifically, if the light distribution control command is an illumination command for a low-beam light distribution pattern, the light distribution control unit 222B controls the vehicle headlamp 221 to illuminate a low-beam light distribution pattern regardless of the above-mentioned determination result. On the other hand, if the light distribution control command is an illumination command for a high-beam light distribution pattern, the light distribution control unit 222B controls the vehicle headlamp 221 based on the above-mentioned determination result to illuminate an area including light points from sources other than the moving object without reducing the amount of illumination light, and to not illuminate or to reduce the amount of illumination light, an area including light points from the moving object.

[0158] Fig. 25 is a diagram showing an example of a light distribution pattern of a vehicle headlamp 221 when the light distribution control command is an illumination command for a high-beam light distribution pattern. In the example of Fig. 25, a street light 240 and a sign 241 are determined not to be moving objects, and therefore light distribution control is performed to illuminate an area 240A including the street light 240 and an area 241A including the sign 241 without reducing the amount of light emitted. Furthermore, another vehicle 242 is determined to be a moving object, and therefore light distribution control is performed to not illuminate an area 242B including the other vehicle 242, or to reduce the amount of light emitted.

[0159] With the above configuration, by detecting moving objects in the field of view with high accuracy, it is possible to prevent erroneous detection of objects to be illuminated as moving objects. Also, by illuminating objects to be illuminated, such as signs and streetlights, and not illuminating moving objects, it is possible to prevent dazzling of moving objects and improve safety.

[0160] As described above, the light distribution control device according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure is configured to control the light distribution of the vehicle headlights based on a light distribution control command from the light distribution control command generation unit, the first target identification result stored in the storage unit, and the second target identification result identified by the identifier during current travel. This makes it possible to identify targets around the vehicle with high accuracy and reduce false detection of an object to be illuminated as a moving body, thereby improving safety.

[0161] In addition, if the past first identification result 225A linked to the past position information and past traveling direction information that match the current position information and the current traveling direction, respectively, cannot be acquired in the above-mentioned step S304, the number of samples of past target-related information necessary to determine whether the target is a moving object is not acquired, and there is a risk that a non-moving object such as a delineator may be erroneously determined to be a moving object. Therefore, the light distribution control unit 222B may be configured to control the vehicle headlamp 221 so as not to illuminate or to illuminate with a reduced amount of light the areas that include non-moving objects and the areas that include moving objects.

[0162] In the third embodiment described above, an example has been described in which the identifier 222A acquires the first identification result 225A and the second identification result, and the light distribution control unit 222B controls the light distribution of the vehicle headlamp 221 based on the first identification result 225A and the second identification result, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, the vehicle 201 may be provided with a device that acquires the first identification result 225A and the second identification result, and a device that controls the light distribution based on the first identification result 225A and the second identification result, separately.

[0163] Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, it goes without saying that the technical scope of the present disclosure should not be interpreted as being limited by the description of the present embodiments. The present embodiments are merely examples, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications of the embodiments are possible within the scope of the invention described in the claims. The technical scope of the present disclosure should be determined based on the scope of the invention described in the claims and its equivalents.

[0164] This application is based on a Japanese patent application filed on December 27, 2023 (Patent Application No. 2023-220822), a Japanese patent application filed on December 27, 2023 (Patent Application No. 2023-220823), and a Japanese patent application filed on January 31, 2024 (Patent Application No. 2024-012853), the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Claims

1. A light distribution control device used for a vehicle headlamp capable of changing a light distribution pattern projected in front of a vehicle, comprising: a position information acquisition unit that acquires current position information of the host vehicle; a traveling direction information acquisition unit that acquires current traveling direction information of the host vehicle; an image acquisition unit that acquires a current captured image around the host vehicle; and a control unit that controls the light distribution pattern, wherein the control unit controls the light distribution pattern based on the position information acquired during past driving, the traveling direction information acquired during past driving, and light spot information including type information of a target, which is a light spot in the captured image captured during past driving, the current position information, and the current captured image.

2. When the type of a target, which is a light spot included in the current captured image, is a moving object, the control unit controls the light distribution pattern so as not to irradiate the periphery of the light spot or to reduce the amount of irradiation light on the periphery of the light spot; when the type of a target, which is a light spot included in the current captured image, is other than a moving object, the control unit controls the light distribution pattern to irradiate without reducing the amount of irradiation light on the periphery of the light spot. The light distribution control device according to claim 1.

3. The light distribution control device further comprises a creation unit that creates the light spot information. The creation unit identifies a plurality of pieces of light spot information of the same target among the plurality of pieces of light spot information based on a plurality of captured images continuously acquired by the image acquisition unit, acquires a feature amount of the target based on the identified plurality of pieces of light spot information, and determines the type of the target based on the feature amount. The light distribution control device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The creation unit identifies a plurality of pieces of light spot information of the target based on a plurality of captured images acquired during a period from the appearance to the disappearance of the same target among the plurality of continuously acquired captured images. The light distribution control device according to claim 3.

5. The light spot information further indicates the position of the light spot in the captured image. When the position of the light spot in the captured image indicated by each piece of light spot information is included in a predetermined range among the plurality of pieces of light spot information of the same target, the control unit acquires a representative value of the positions indicated by each piece of light spot information and uses the representative value to control the light distribution pattern. The light distribution control device according to claim 3.

6. The light distribution control device further includes a database in which the light spot information is recorded, and a creation unit that creates the light spot information. The creation unit newly creates the light spot information based on the captured image newly acquired by the image acquisition unit, and records the newly created light spot information in the database. The light distribution control device according to claim 1 or 2.

7. The light spot information is recorded by being divided into any one of a plurality of sets according to the imaging position of the captured image used for creation. The control unit identifies any one of the plurality of sets based on the newly acquired position information, and controls the light distribution pattern based on one or more pieces of the light spot information included in the identified set. The light distribution control device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. A light distribution control device used for a vehicle headlamp capable of changing a light distribution pattern projected in front of the vehicle, including a position information acquisition unit that acquires the current position information of the host vehicle, a traveling direction information acquisition unit that acquires the current traveling direction information of the host vehicle, an image acquisition unit that acquires a current captured image of the periphery of the host vehicle, and a control unit that controls the light distribution pattern. The control unit controls the light distribution pattern based on the position information acquired during past driving, the traveling direction information acquired during past driving, and the light spot information including the type information of a target that is a light spot in the captured image captured during past driving, the current position information, and the current captured image. When the number of pieces of the light spot information including the past position information and the traveling direction information that respectively match the current position and traveling direction of the current host vehicle is less than a predetermined value, the control unit does not irradiate the periphery of the light spot in the current captured image or reduces the amount of irradiation light to the periphery of the light spot. When the number is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the control unit determines the type of the target that is a light spot in the current captured image based on the light spot information, the current position information, and the current captured image. When it is determined that the target is other than a moving object, the control unit controls the light distribution pattern to irradiate the periphery of the target without reducing the amount of irradiation light.

9. A light distribution control device used for a vehicle headlamp capable of changing a light distribution pattern projected in front of the vehicle, comprising: a position information acquisition unit that acquires current position information of the host vehicle; a traveling direction information acquisition unit that acquires current traveling direction information of the host vehicle; an image acquisition unit that acquires a current captured image around the host vehicle; and a control unit that controls the light distribution pattern. The control unit controls the light distribution pattern based on the position information acquired in past travels, the traveling direction information acquired during the past travels, and light spot information including type information of a target that is a light spot in the captured image captured during the past travels, the current position information, and the current captured image. When traveling at the same location, for the light spots that appear in the captured image obtained, when it is the first travel and the light spot information is not recorded, the light distribution pattern is controlled so as not to irradiate the periphery of at least some of the light spots or to reduce the irradiation light amount. When it is normal travel and the light spot information is recorded, the light distribution pattern is controlled so as to irradiate without reducing the irradiation light amount for the periphery of at least some of the light spots from a target that is not a moving object.

10. A light distribution control program used for a vehicle headlamp capable of changing a light distribution pattern projected in front of the vehicle, including: a position information acquisition step of acquiring current position information of the host vehicle; a traveling direction information acquisition step of acquiring current traveling direction information of the host vehicle; an image acquisition step of acquiring a current captured image around the host vehicle; and a control step of controlling the light distribution pattern. In the control step, the light distribution pattern is controlled based on the position information acquired during past travels, the traveling direction information acquired during the past travels, and light spot information including the type of a target that is a light spot in the captured image captured during the past travels, the current position information, and the current captured image.

11. A vehicle lighting system comprising a vehicle headlamp capable of changing a light distribution pattern projected in front of the vehicle and including a light source unit, and a light distribution control device, wherein the light distribution control device includes a position information acquisition unit that acquires current position information of the host vehicle, a traveling direction information acquisition unit that acquires traveling direction information of the host vehicle, an image acquisition unit that acquires a current captured image around the host vehicle, and a control unit that controls the light distribution pattern, and the control unit controls the light distribution pattern based on the position information acquired during past driving, the traveling direction information acquired during past driving, light point information including type information of a target that is a light point in the captured image captured during past driving, the current position information, and the current captured image.

12. A light distribution control device used for a vehicle headlamp capable of changing a light distribution pattern projected in front of the vehicle, comprising a position information acquisition unit that acquires current position information of the host vehicle, a traveling direction information acquisition unit that acquires current traveling direction information of the host vehicle, an image acquisition unit that acquires a current captured image around the host vehicle, and a storage unit that stores light point information regarding at least coordinates in the image of light points included in the captured image captured during past driving, the position information acquired during past driving, and the traveling direction information acquired during past driving, and controls the light distribution of the vehicle headlamp based on a determination result as to whether a light point included in the current captured image is a light point from a moving object based on the light point information.

13. The light distribution control device according to claim 12, wherein when it is determined that a light point in the current captured image is not a light point from a moving object, the area including the light point is irradiated without reducing the irradiation light amount, and when it is determined that a light point in the current captured image is a light point from a moving object, the area including the light point is not irradiated or the light distribution is controlled so as to reduce the irradiation light amount.

14. The light distribution control device according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the light distribution control device determines whether a light point in the current captured image is a light point from a moving object based on the current position information of the host vehicle, the past light point information stored in the storage unit, and the light point information of the light points in the current captured image.

15. The light distribution control device calculates a feature amount of the past light spot information stored in the storage unit and a feature amount of the light spot information of the light spots in the current captured image, maps them on a feature amount space, and determines whether the light spots are light spots from the moving object based on the density of the number of samples of the light spots on the feature amount space. The light distribution control device according to claim 14.

16. The feature amount includes at least one of a horizontal position, a vertical position, the number of pixels, a hue, a saturation, a brightness, and a circularity of a light spot in the captured image. The light distribution control device according to claim 15.

17. When the density of the number of samples of the light spots on the feature amount space is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the light distribution control device compares at least one of the feature amounts of the light spots with a threshold value to determine whether the light spots are light spots from the moving object. The light distribution control device according to claim 16.

18. The light distribution control device determines only whether the light spots are light spots from the moving object. The light distribution control device according to any one of claims 12 to 17.

19. A light distribution control device used for a vehicle headlamp capable of changing a light distribution pattern projected in front of the vehicle, comprising: a position information acquisition unit that acquires current position information of the host vehicle; a traveling direction information acquisition unit that acquires current traveling direction information of the host vehicle; an image acquisition unit that acquires a current captured image of the periphery of the host vehicle; a storage unit that stores at least light spot information regarding coordinates in the image of light spots included in the position information acquired during past travel, the traveling direction information acquired during past travel, and the captured image captured during past travel; and when the number of acquisition times of the past position information and the past traveling direction information that respectively match the current position and traveling direction of the host vehicle is less than a predetermined value, a region including light spots determined not to be light spots from a moving object in the current captured image is not irradiated or the irradiation light amount is reduced, and when the number of acquisition times is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the light distribution is controlled so that a region including light spots determined not to be light spots from the moving object in the current captured image is irradiated without reducing the irradiation light amount. A light distribution control device.

20. A light distribution control program for a vehicle headlamp capable of changing a light distribution pattern projected in front of the vehicle, the program comprising: a position information acquisition step of acquiring current position information of the host vehicle; a traveling direction information acquisition step of acquiring current traveling direction information of the host vehicle; an image acquisition step of acquiring a current captured image around the host vehicle; a detection step of detecting light points included in the captured image; a storage step of storing, in a storage unit provided in the host vehicle, at least light point information regarding coordinates in the image of the light points included in the captured image taken during past travel, the position information acquired during the past travel, and the traveling direction information acquired during the past travel; a determination step of determining, in the detection step, whether a light point included in the current captured image is a light point from a moving body; and a light distribution control step of controlling the light distribution of the vehicle headlamp based on the determination result in the determination step.

21. A vehicle headlamp having a light source unit in which a plurality of light emitting units capable of changing a light distribution pattern projected in front of the vehicle and individually changing the amount of light emitted are arranged in a matrix, the headlamp comprising a light distribution control device, the light distribution control device including: a position information acquisition unit that acquires current position information of the host vehicle; a traveling direction information acquisition unit that acquires current traveling direction information of the host vehicle; an image acquisition unit that acquires a current captured image around the host vehicle; and a storage unit that stores at least light point information regarding coordinates in the image of the light points included in the captured image taken during past travel, the position information acquired during the past travel, and the traveling direction information acquired during the past travel, wherein the light distribution control device controls the light distribution based on a determination result as to whether a light point included in the current captured image based on the light point information is a light point from a moving body.

22. A light distribution control device used for a vehicle headlamp capable of changing a light distribution pattern irradiated in front of the vehicle, comprising: a position information acquisition unit that acquires current position information of the host vehicle; a traveling direction information acquisition unit that acquires current traveling direction information of the host vehicle; an identifier that identifies the target based on target-related information regarding a target around the host vehicle; a storage unit that stores the position information acquired during past travel, the traveling direction information acquired during the past travel, and a first identification result of the target identified by the identifier during the past travel. And a light distribution control device that controls the light distribution of the vehicle headlamp based on a light distribution control command of the vehicle headlamp from a light distribution control command generation unit, the first identification result, and a second identification result of the target identified by the identifier during current travel.

23. Based on the first identification result and the second identification result, when it is determined that the target is not a moving object, the area including the target is irradiated without reducing the irradiation light amount. Based on the first identification result and the second identification result, when it is determined that the target is the moving object, the area including the target is not irradiated or the light distribution is controlled so as to reduce the irradiation light amount. The light distribution control device according to claim 22.

24. The identifier includes a learned model learned from the target-related information acquired during past travel. The light distribution control device according to claim 22 or 23.

25. The target-related information includes at least one of angle information of the target with respect to the host vehicle and distance information from the host vehicle to the target. The light distribution control device according to any one of claims 22 to 24.

26. A light distribution control device for a vehicle headlamp capable of changing a light distribution pattern irradiated in front of the vehicle, comprising: a position information acquisition unit that acquires current position information of the host vehicle; a traveling direction information acquisition unit that acquires current traveling direction information of the host vehicle; an identifier that identifies the target based on target-related information regarding a target around the host vehicle; a storage unit that stores the position information acquired during past travel, the traveling direction information acquired during the past travel, and a first identification result of the target identified by the identifier during the past travel. Based on the first identification result and a second identification result of the target identified by the identifier during current travel, it is determined whether the target is a moving object. According to the number of acquisitions of the position information and the traveling direction information acquired during past travel that respectively match the current position information and the traveling direction information of the host vehicle, when it is determined that the target is not a moving object, the probability of performing light distribution control so as to irradiate the area including the target without reducing the irradiation light amount increases; when it is determined that the target is the moving object, the probability of performing light distribution control so as not to irradiate the area including the target or to reduce the irradiation light amount increases.

27. A light distribution control program for a vehicle headlamp capable of changing a light distribution pattern irradiated in front of the vehicle, comprising: a position information acquisition step of acquiring current position information of the host vehicle; a traveling direction information acquisition step of acquiring current traveling direction information of the host vehicle; an identification step of identifying the target based on target-related information regarding a target around the host vehicle; a storage step of storing the position information acquired during past travel, the traveling direction information acquired during the past travel, and a first identification result of the target identified in the identification step during the past travel; a light distribution control step of controlling the light distribution of the vehicle headlamp based on a light distribution control command of the vehicle headlamp from a light distribution control command generation unit, the first identification result, and a second identification result of the target identified in the identification step during current travel.

28. A vehicle headlamp having a light source unit in which a plurality of light emitting units capable of changing a light distribution pattern irradiated in front of the vehicle and individually changing the amount of light emitted are arranged in a matrix, comprising a light distribution control device, wherein the light distribution control device includes a position information acquisition unit that acquires current position information of the host vehicle, a traveling direction information acquisition unit that acquires current traveling direction information of the host vehicle, an identifier that identifies the target based on target-related information regarding a target around the host vehicle, a storage unit that stores the position information acquired during past driving, the traveling direction information acquired during the past driving, and a first identification result of the target identified by the identifier during the past driving, and controls the light distribution of the vehicle headlamp based on a light distribution control command of the vehicle headlamp from a light distribution control command generation unit, the first identification result, and a second identification result of the target identified by the identifier during current driving.

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