Control device for variable light distribution lamp, vehicle lamp, and software program

Abstract

This control device 300 generates second data D2 by removing frequency components higher than a predetermined first cutoff frequency from first data D1 indicating the positions of the upper end and the lower end of a light-shielding region on the vehicle side. The control device 300 generates fourth data D4 by removing frequency components lower than a predetermined second cutoff frequency from third data D3 indicating the vehicle body pitch angle based on a sensor signal S2 from a lamp-side sensor 220. The control device 300 synthesizes the second data D2 and the fourth data D4 to determine the positions of the upper end and the lower end of the light-shielding region, and controls the variable light distribution lamp 210 so that a high-beam light distribution including the light-shielding region is formed.

Description

Control device for variable light distribution lamp, vehicle lighting fixture, and software program

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle lamp.

[0002] Vehicle lamps are generally capable of switching between low beam and high beam. Low beam illuminates the area near the vehicle with a predetermined illuminance, and light distribution regulations are established to avoid causing glare to oncoming or preceding vehicles, and is primarily used when driving in urban areas. On the other hand, high beam illuminates a wide area ahead and a long distance with relatively high illuminance, and is primarily used when driving at high speeds on roads with few oncoming or preceding vehicles. Therefore, high beam provides better visibility for the driver than low beam, but has the problem of causing glare to drivers of vehicles and pedestrians ahead of the vehicle.

[0003] In recent years, Adaptive Driving Beam (ADB) technology has been proposed, which dynamically and adaptively controls the high beam light distribution pattern based on the conditions around the vehicle. ADB technology detects the range of preceding and oncoming vehicles (collectively referred to as "forward vehicles") ahead of the vehicle and reduces the glare on the vehicle by, for example, dimming the area corresponding to the forward vehicles (referred to as the "shaded area").

[0004] International Publication No. WO2021 / 182151A1 International Publication No. WO2021 / 200701A1 International Publication No. WO2023 / 090327A1

[0005] The use of spatial light modulators such as LED arrays, DMDs, and liquid crystal displays has led to the development of high-resolution ADB control. High-resolution ADB control detects vehicles ahead using ROI sensors such as cameras and LiDAR, enabling the shading area to be controlled with high precision.

[0006] However, currently available ROI sensors, specifically cameras and LiDAR, often do not have the responsiveness to detect relative position changes of the vehicle ahead caused by high-frequency pitching vibrations of the vehicle body.

[0007] Specifically, an ROI sensor is typically mounted on the vehicle, and a shaded area based on the preceding vehicle is generated by a vehicle ECU (Electronic Control Unit). Specifically, the vehicle ECU generates shaded area information that defines the shaded area based on the output of the ROI sensor. The shaded area information is transmitted from the vehicle ECU to the vehicle lamp via a vehicle bus such as a Controller Area Network (CAN) or a Local Interconnect Network (LIN). Therefore, there is a delay in the transmission of the shaded area information.

[0008] In other words, if the responsiveness of the vehicle's sensors or the transmission delay of the shaded area information cannot be ignored, when pitching vibration of the vehicle body occurs, the shaded area will deviate from the actual position of the vehicle ahead, causing glare to the vehicle ahead.

[0009] The present disclosure has been made in light of such a situation, and one of its exemplary purposes is to provide a vehicle lamp that is capable of accurate ADB control even when pitching vibrations of various frequencies occur.

[0010] One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a control device for controlling a variable light distribution lamp, the control device including: the variable light distribution lamp including a plurality of light-emitting pixels configured to be able to irradiate an area where a high beam light distribution is to be formed with a beam having an intensity distribution corresponding to the luminance distribution of the plurality of light-emitting pixels; the control device generates second data by removing frequency components higher than a predetermined first cutoff frequency from first data indicating the positions of upper and lower ends of a shaded area from the vehicle side; generates fourth data by removing frequency components lower than a predetermined second cutoff frequency from third data indicating a pitch angle of the vehicle body based on a sensor signal from a lamp-side sensor; determines the positions of the upper and lower ends of the shaded area by combining the second data and the fourth data; and controls the variable light distribution lamp so as to form a high beam light distribution that includes the shaded area.

[0011] Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a vehicle lamp including a variable light distribution lamp and a control device that controls the variable light distribution lamp. The variable light distribution lamp includes a plurality of light-emitting pixels and is configured to be able to irradiate an area where a high beam distribution is to be formed with a beam having an intensity distribution corresponding to the luminance distribution of the plurality of light-emitting pixels. The control device controls the variable light distribution lamp so that (i) when the vehicle lamp is stationary and a light spot corresponding to an object to be shaded in front of the vehicle lamp is vibrated at a frequency lower than a predetermined first frequency, the shading region of the high beam distribution follows the light spot, (ii) when the vehicle lamp is stationary and the light spot is vibrated at a frequency higher than the first frequency, the shading region of the high beam distribution does not follow the light spot, (iii) when the vehicle lamp is vibrated in the pitch direction at a frequency lower than a predetermined second frequency while the light spot is stationary, the shading region of the high beam distribution does not follow the light spot, and (iv) when the vehicle lamp is vibrated in the pitch direction at a frequency higher than the second frequency while the light spot is stationary, the shading region of the high beam distribution follows the light spot.

[0012] Any combination of the above elements, or mutual substitution of elements or expressions between methods, devices, systems, etc., are also valid aspects of the present invention or the present disclosure. Furthermore, the description in this section (Means for Solving the Problems) does not explain all essential features of the present invention, and therefore, subcombinations of the described features may also constitute the present invention.

[0013] According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, accurate ADB control is possible for pitching vibrations of various frequencies.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a lighting system equipped with an ADB function. FIG. 2 is a diagram explaining the motion of a vehicle and a vehicle ahead. FIG. 3 is a diagram explaining the up and down motion of a vehicle ahead, the pitching motion of the vehicle ahead, and frequency characteristics. FIG. 4 is a diagram explaining the influence of transmission delay on ADB control. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a control error when ADB control is performed based on the relative position after transmission delay. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a lighting system equipped with a vehicle lamp according to an embodiment. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a control device according to an embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram explaining the frequency characteristics of a first filter and a second filter. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an evaluation system for a lighting system according to an embodiment. FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a control device according to a first modification. FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a microcontroller.

[0015] (Summary of the Embodiments) A summary of some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be provided. This summary is intended to provide a basic understanding of one or more embodiments as a prelude to the detailed description that follows, and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention or disclosure. Furthermore, this summary is not intended to be a comprehensive overview of all possible embodiments, nor does it limit essential elements of the embodiments. For convenience, the term "one embodiment" may refer to one embodiment (example or variant) or multiple embodiments (examples or variants) disclosed herein.

[0016] A control device according to one embodiment controls a variable light distribution lamp. The variable light distribution lamp includes a plurality of light-emitting pixels and is configured to illuminate an area where a high-beam light distribution is to be formed with a beam having an intensity distribution corresponding to the luminance distribution of the plurality of light-emitting pixels. The control device generates second data by removing frequency components higher than a predetermined first cutoff frequency from first data indicating the positions of the upper and lower ends of a light-blocking area from the vehicle side, generates fourth data by removing frequency components lower than a predetermined second cutoff frequency from third data indicating the pitch angle of the vehicle body based on a sensor signal from a lamp-side sensor, determines the positions of the upper and lower ends of the light-blocking area by combining the second data and the fourth data, and controls the variable light distribution lamp so as to form a high-beam light distribution that includes the light-blocking area.

[0017] With this configuration, the low-frequency components of the relative movement between the vehicle's body and the vehicle ahead are detected based on a vehicle-side sensor that is relatively slow and has high latency, and the high-frequency components are detected based on a lamp-side sensor that is relatively fast and has low latency.By combining these, the shaded area of ​​the high-beam distribution can be made to accurately track the target for pitching of various frequencies.

[0018] A light-emitting pixel refers to a unit of brightness control. Therefore, when the variable light distribution lamp is composed of an array of light-emitting elements, each light-emitting element corresponds to a light-emitting pixel. When the variable light distribution lamp includes a patterning device such as a spatial light modulator, such as a DMD (Digital Mirror Device) or a liquid crystal device, one pixel of the patterning device corresponds to a light-emitting pixel.

[0019] In one embodiment, the control device may generate sixth data by removing frequency components higher than a predetermined third cutoff frequency from fifth data indicating the positions of the left and right edges of the light-blocking region from the vehicle side, generate eighth data by removing frequency components lower than a predetermined fourth cutoff frequency from seventh data indicating the yaw angle of the vehicle body based on a sensor signal from the lamp-side sensor, determine the positions of the left and right edges of the light-blocking region by combining the sixth and eighth data, and control the variable light distribution lamp so that a high-beam light distribution including the light-blocking region is formed. In this case, the light-blocking region of the high-beam light distribution can be made to accurately track the target in response to vibrations in the yaw direction of various frequencies.

[0020] In one embodiment, the lamp side sensor may be a gyro sensor.

[0021] In one embodiment, the lamp-side sensor may be a camera.

[0022] A vehicle lamp according to one embodiment may include any of the control devices described above, a lamp-side sensor capable of detecting information correlated with the inclination angle of the vehicle body, and an adjustable light distribution lamp.

[0023] A vehicle lamp according to one embodiment includes a variable light distribution lamp and a control device that controls the variable light distribution lamp. The variable light distribution lamp includes a plurality of light-emitting pixels and is configured to be able to irradiate an area where a high beam distribution is to be formed with a beam having an intensity distribution corresponding to the luminance distribution of the plurality of light-emitting pixels. The control device controls the variable light distribution lamp so that (i) when a light spot corresponding to an object to be shaded ahead of the vehicle lamp is vibrated at a frequency lower than a predetermined first frequency while the vehicle lamp is stationary, the shading region of the high beam distribution follows the light spot, (ii) when the light spot is vibrated at a frequency higher than the first frequency while the vehicle lamp is stationary, the shading region of the high beam distribution does not follow the light spot, (iii) when the vehicle lamp is vibrated in the pitch direction at a frequency lower than a predetermined second frequency while the light spot is stationary, the shading region of the high beam distribution does not follow the light spot, and (iv) when the vehicle lamp is vibrated in the pitch direction at a frequency higher than the second frequency while the light spot is stationary, the shading region of the high beam distribution follows the light spot. By designing in this way, the shading region of the high beam distribution can be made to accurately track the target object for pitching at various frequencies.

[0024] (Embodiments) Preferred embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings. The same or equivalent components, parts, and processes shown in each drawing will be given the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations will be omitted as appropriate. Furthermore, the embodiments are examples rather than limitations on the disclosure, and all features and combinations thereof described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the disclosure.

[0025] 1 is a block diagram of a lighting system 100 equipped with an ADB function. The lighting system 100 is mounted on an automobile and functions as a headlamp that illuminates the field of view ahead of the vehicle. In high beam mode, the lighting system 100 has an ADB function that blocks light from areas where oncoming vehicles and preceding vehicles (hereinafter collectively referred to as preceding vehicles) are present, depending on the situation ahead of the vehicle.

[0026] 1 shows a virtual vertical screen 2, and a high beam light distribution 4 is schematically shown on the virtual vertical screen 2. The high beam light distribution 4 includes a shaded area 6 where the illuminance is substantially zero in the range where a preceding vehicle is present. Because the position of the preceding vehicle changes from moment to moment, the lighting system 100 controls the position of the shaded area 6 so that it follows the preceding vehicle. The area other than the shaded area 6 is referred to as an illuminated area 8. In other words, the high beam light distribution 4 includes the shaded area 6 and the illuminated area 8.

[0027] The lighting system 100 includes a vehicle lamp 200, a vehicle ECU 110, and a vehicle-side sensor 120. The vehicle-side sensor 120 is a camera, LiDAR, or the like, and senses the situation ahead of the vehicle. The vehicle ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 110 detects a preceding vehicle based on the output of the vehicle-side sensor 120 and generates shading data (shaded area information) S1 indicating a region of interest in which the preceding vehicle is present, in other words, an area to be shaded. The shading data S1 may include first data D1 indicating the positions of the top and bottom edges of the shading area, and second data D2 indicating the positions of the left and right edges of the shading area. Typically, the position information is expressed as an angle.

[0028] The vehicle ECU 110 and the vehicle lamp 200 are connected via a vehicle bus such as a Controller Area Network (CAN) or a Local Interconnect Network (LIN), and are capable of transmitting and receiving information to and from each other. The shading data S1 is transmitted from the vehicle ECU 110 to the vehicle lamp 200 via the vehicle bus. The vehicle lamp 200 performs ADB control using the shading data S1 when the high beam is on.

[0029] The vehicle lamp 200 includes a variable light distribution lamp 210 and a control device 300. The variable light distribution lamp 210 includes a light-emitting device 212. The light-emitting device 212 is, for example, an LED array and includes a plurality of light-emitting pixels PIX2. The luminance values ​​of the plurality of light-emitting pixels PIX2 are set according to the pixel values ​​of a plurality of pixels PIX1 included in a control image IMG1 generated by the control device 300. The variable light distribution lamp 210 irradiates an area on a virtual vertical screen 2 in front of the vehicle where a high beam light distribution 4 is to be formed with a beam BM having an intensity distribution according to the luminance distribution of the plurality of light-emitting pixels PIX2.

[0030] The control device 300 generates a control image IMG1 that defines the high beam light distribution based on the shading data S1, and controls the brightness of the plurality of pixels PIX2 of the variable light distribution lamp 210. Of the plurality of pixels PIX1 that make up the control image IMG1, the pixel value of the portion that corresponds to the vehicle ahead, i.e., the portion that corresponds to the shading region 6, is zero. As a result, the plurality of pixels PIX2 that correspond to the shading region 6 are turned off. The pixels that should be turned off are called off pixels.

[0031] The control device 300 updates the control image IMG1, in other words, the luminance of the plurality of luminescent pixels PIX2, every control period T. The control period T is, for example, about several ms to 100 ms.

[0032] 2 is a diagram illustrating the movement of the host vehicle 30 and the vehicle ahead. The relative vertical positional relationship between the host vehicle 30 and the vehicle ahead 32 while traveling (simply referred to as the position of the vehicle ahead) is affected by the vertical movement V of the vehicle ahead 32 and the orientation of the vehicle-side sensor 120 due to pitching vibrations of the host vehicle 30.

[0033] 3 is a diagram illustrating the frequency characteristics of the up-and-down movement of the vehicle ahead and the pitching movement of the vehicle itself. The up-and-down movement of the vehicle ahead is in a relatively low frequency band, while the pitching movement of the vehicle itself includes higher frequency components.

[0034] A problem that may occur in the lighting system 100 of FIG. 1 will now be described.

[0035] Accurate ADB control is possible if the vehicle-side sensor 120 is fast enough to follow the pitching of the vehicle and the transmission delay between the vehicle lamp 200 and the control device 300 is negligible. However, currently, the vehicle-side sensor 120 does not have a response speed fast enough to follow high-speed pitching vibrations. Also, there is a non-negligible transmission delay in the vehicle bus between the vehicle lamp 200 and the control device 300.

[0036] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the effect of transmission delay on ADB control. The upper part shows the actual relative positions of the vehicle 30 and the vehicle ahead 32 in the vertical direction while the vehicle is moving. Here, the pitching frequency is gradually increasing. The lower part of FIG. 4 shows the relative positions after the transmission delay caused by the vehicle bus. When the pitching frequency is low, the transmission delay is not a major problem. However, as the pitching frequency increases, the error between the actual position and the position acquired by the control device 300 increases. When the pitching frequency reaches a certain frequency fmax, the error reaches its maximum.

[0037] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the control error when ADB control is performed based on the relative position after a transmission delay. The horizontal axis represents the pitching frequency fp. As shown by the dashed-dotted line A, in the region where the pitching frequency fp is sufficiently low (fp<fx), the control error is small (e.g., 50% or less), and the reliability of the shaded data S1 is high, enabling accurate ADB control. As an example, the frequency at which the control error becomes 50% when the delay is 200 ms is approximately 0.5 Hz. As the pitching frequency fp increases, the effect of the transmission delay becomes more pronounced, and the control error increases. A control error of 100% is equivalent to no tracking control being performed on the pitching vibration. When the pitching frequency fp reaches the frequency fmax in FIG. 4, the control error increases to 200%. A control error of 200% indicates that the shaded area 6 is displaced in the opposite direction to the displacement of the preceding vehicle. These are problems that can occur in the lighting system 100 of FIG. 1.

[0038] 6 is a block diagram of a lighting system 100 including a vehicle lamp 200 according to this embodiment. The vehicle lamp 200 according to this embodiment is provided with a lamp-side sensor 220. The lamp-side sensor 220 generates a sensor signal S2 that is correlated with the inclination (pitch angle) θp of the vehicle body. A gyro sensor can be used as the lamp-side sensor 220, and the sensor signal S2 includes a signal that indicates the angular velocity ωp about the pitch axis.

[0039] The following relationships hold between the lamp side sensor 220 and the vehicle side sensor 120: The detection speed (response speed) of the lamp side sensor 220 is faster than the detection speed (response speed) of the vehicle side sensor 120. The transmission delay of the sensor signal from the lamp side sensor 220 to the control device 300 is shorter than the transmission delay of the shading data S1 from the vehicle side sensor 120 to the control device 300.

[0040] The control device 300 controls the variable light distribution lamp 210 based on the sensor signal S2 in addition to the light blocking data S1.

[0041] 7 is a block diagram of a control device 300 according to an embodiment. The control device 300 is implemented as a combination of a microcontroller (CPU) including a CPU and a software program executed by the CPU. Therefore, each block shown in FIG. 6 does not necessarily represent a hardware configuration, but may represent a function realized by software.

[0042] The control device 300 includes an integrator 310 , a first filter 320 , a second filter 322 , a synthesis unit 324 , and a mapping processing unit 330 .

[0043] The integrator 310 integrates the angular velocity ωp of the sensor signal S2 to generate third data D3 indicating the pitch angle θp of the vehicle body.

[0044] The shading data S1 includes vertical position information V (first data D1) and horizontal position information H (second data D2) of the forward vehicle. The first filter 320 receives the first data D1, which is the vertical position information V, and removes frequency components higher than a first cutoff frequency fc1 to generate the second data D2. The first cutoff frequency fc1 is determined based on the upper limit frequency fx of the high reliability range A in FIG. 5 . The first filter 320 may be a low-pass filter.

[0045] The second filter 322 receives the third data D3 indicating the pitch angle θp. The second filter 322 has frequency characteristics complementary to those of the first filter 320, and removes frequency components lower than the second cutoff frequency fc2 to generate the fourth data D4.

[0046] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the frequency characteristics of the first filter 320 and the second filter 322. The second filter 322 may be a high-pass filter. The first cutoff frequency fc1 and the second cutoff frequency fc2 may be set near the frequency fx in FIG. 4, and the two filters 320 and 322 cross over near the frequency fx. The two cutoff frequencies fc1 and fc2 may be the same or different. The orders and types of the first filter 320 and the second filter 322 may be the same or different.

[0047] The combining unit 324 combines the second data D2 and the fourth data D4 to generate vertical position information S3 of the light-blocking region and supplies it to the mapping processing unit 330. The combining unit 324 may include an adder / subtractor that adds or subtracts the second data D2 and the fourth data D4. The calculation performed by the combining unit 324 may be determined depending on the coordinate system used for the second data D2 and the fourth data D4. If the coordinate axes of the second data D2 and the fourth data D4 are aligned, the combining unit 324 may perform addition. Conversely, if the coordinate axes of the second data D2 and the fourth data D4 are aligned in opposite directions, the combining unit 324 may perform subtraction. Furthermore, if scaling of the second data D2 and the fourth data D4 is required, the combining unit 324 may weight the data using an appropriate coefficient.

[0048] Furthermore, horizontal position information S4 (fifth data D5) from the shading data S1 is supplied to the mapping processing unit 330. The mapping processing unit 330 generates a control image IMG1 based on the position information S3 and S4. Within the control image IMG1, the range defined in the horizontal direction by the position information S4 and in the vertical direction by the position information S3 becomes OFF pixels.

[0049] The configuration of the control device 300 has been described above.

[0050] When the preceding vehicle moves up and down or the host vehicle vibrates pitching at a frequency lower than frequency fx, a shaded area is formed so as to follow the preceding vehicle based on the shaded data S1.

[0051] Conversely, when the vehicle pitches at a frequency higher than frequency fx, the light-blocking region is formed so as to follow the vehicle ahead based on the sensor signal S2.

[0052] In the vicinity of frequency fx, a shaded area is formed so as to follow the preceding vehicle based on both the shaded data S1 and the sensor signal S2.

[0053] This enables accurate ADB control even in a system with a large transmission delay.

[0054] 9 is a diagram showing an evaluation system 500 for the lighting system 100 according to the embodiment. The evaluation system 500 includes a vibration stage 510 and a vibration stage 520. The vibration stage 510 applies pitching vibrations at a frequency fp to the vehicle lighting device 200. The vibration stage 520 vibrates a light source (or image) 522, which emits light simulating a preceding vehicle, in the vertical direction at a frequency fv. The frequencies fp and fv can be controlled independently.

[0055] (Operation 1) Now, consider the case where the vibration stage 510 is stopped and the vibration stage 520 is used to vibrate the light source 522 in the vertical direction. In this case, the vehicle-side sensor 120 detects the displacement of the light source 522. When the vibration frequency fv is lower than the first cutoff frequency fc1, the light-shielded region 6 in the beam BM moves in the vertical direction following the light source 522.

[0056] As the vibration frequency fv increases, the amplitude of the light-blocking region 6 decreases, and when it exceeds the first cutoff frequency fc1, it stops and no longer follows the light source 522. However, it is difficult to imagine that an actual vehicle ahead would move up and down at such a high frequency.

[0057] (Operation 2) Consider the case where the vibration stage 520 is stopped and the vibration stage 510 applies pitching vibration to the vehicle lamp 200. At this time, the vehicle-side sensor 120 is separated from the vibration stage 510 and is not affected by the vibration. In this case, if the pitching frequency fp is lower than the second cutoff frequency fc2, the light-blocking region 6 does not come to rest on the light source 522, but instead vibrates up and down in response to the vibration of the optical axis of the vehicle lamp 200. When the pitching frequency fp is increased and exceeds the second cutoff frequency fc2, the light-blocking region 6 is controlled based on the sensor signal S2 generated by the lamp-side sensor 220, and the light-blocking region 6 comes to rest on the light source 522.

[0058] (Operation 3) The vehicle-side sensor 120 is fixed to the same vibration stage 510 as the vehicle lamp 200. Then, consider applying pitching vibration to both the vehicle lamp 200 and the vehicle-side sensor 120 using the vibration stage 510. In this case, when the pitching frequency fp is changed, in the low-frequency range, the position of the light-blocking region 6 is adjusted based on the output of the vehicle-side sensor 120, and the light-blocking region 6 comes to rest on the light source 522, and in the high-frequency range, the position of the light-blocking region 6 is adjusted based on the sensor signal S2 generated by the lamp-side sensor 220.

[0059] Next, a modified example of the control device 300 will be described.

[0060] Fig. 10 is a block diagram of a control device 300A according to Modification 1. In the control device 300A of Fig. 7, high-speed vibrations in the pitching direction are tracked by the lamp-side sensor 220, but in Modification 1, high-speed vibrations in the yaw direction are tracked by the lamp-side sensor 220.

[0061] The control device 300A further includes a third filter 340, a fourth filter 342, and a synthesis unit 344.

[0062] The sensor signal S2 includes a signal indicating the angular velocity ωy about the yaw axis in addition to a signal indicating the angular velocity ωp about the pitch axis. The integrator 310 integrates the angular velocity ωy of the sensor signal S2 to generate seventh data D7 indicating the yaw angle θy of the vehicle body.

[0063] The third filter 340 receives fifth data D5, which is horizontal position information H, and removes frequency components higher than a third cutoff frequency fc3 to generate sixth data D6. The third cutoff frequency fc3 is determined based on the upper limit frequency fx of the high reliability range A in FIG. 5. The third filter 340 may be a low-pass filter.

[0064] The fourth filter 342 receives seventh data D7 indicating the yaw angle θy. The fourth filter 342 has frequency characteristics complementary to those of the third filter 340, and removes frequency components lower than a fourth cutoff frequency fc4 to generate eighth data D8.

[0065] The third filter 340 and the fourth filter 342 have complementary frequency characteristics, similar to the first filter 320 and the second filter 322, and cross over near the frequency fx. The two cutoff frequencies fc3 and fc4 may be the same or different. The orders and types of the third filter 340 and the fourth filter 342 may be the same or different.

[0066] The combining unit 344 combines the sixth data D6 and the eighth data D8 to generate horizontal position information S4 of the light-blocking region and supplies it to the mapping processing unit 330. The combining unit 344 may include an adder / subtractor, similar to the combining unit 324. The calculation of the combining unit 344 may be designed based on the relationship between the coordinate system of the sixth data D6 and the coordinate system of the eighth data D8. The mapping processing unit 330 generates a control image IMG1 based on the position information S3 and S4.

[0067] The lamp side sensor 220 is not limited to a gyro sensor, and a camera (image sensor) or the like may be used.

[0068] 11 is a block diagram of a microcontroller. The microcontroller 800 includes a processor 810, a nonvolatile memory 820, a memory 830, and an interface circuit 840. The nonvolatile memory 820 is a flash memory, and is a storage medium for storing the above-mentioned software program 850 executed by the processor 810. The processor 810 loads the software program 850 into the memory 830 at startup and executes the instructions of the software program 850. The interface circuit 840 includes a universal asynchronous receiver and transmitter (UART), a three-wire serial interface, an I / O interface, and the like. ２ The components of the microcontroller 800 may include a serial interface such as a C bus interface, a CAN interface, a GPIO, an A / D converter, a D / A converter, etc. The components of the microcontroller 800 may be built into a single IC package, or may be a microcomputer board in which several IC packages are mounted on a printed circuit board.

[0069] The above is an example of implementation of the control device 300.

[0070] The above-described embodiment is merely an example, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications are possible in the combination of the components and the processing steps. Such modifications will be described below.

[0071] In the embodiment, the variable light distribution lamp 210 has been described as an LED array, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the variable light distribution lamp 210 may be a combination of a light source and a spatial light modulator that patterns the light emitted from the light source. For example, a DMD (Digital Mirror Device) or a liquid crystal device can be used as the spatial light modulator.

[0072] In the embodiment, the control device 300 is implemented as a microcontroller, but it may also be implemented as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

[0073] Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described using specific terms, this description is merely an example to facilitate understanding and does not limit the scope of the present disclosure or the claims. The scope of the present invention is defined by the claims, and therefore, embodiments, examples, and modifications not described herein are also included in the scope of the present invention.

[0074] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle lamp.

[0075] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 Lighting system 110 Vehicle ECU 120 Vehicle-side sensor 200 Vehicle lighting fixture 210 Variable light distribution lamp 212 Light-emitting device 220 Lighting fixture-side sensor 300 Control device 310 Integrator 320 First filter 322 Second filter 324 Synthesis unit 330 Mapping processing unit 340 Third filter 342 Fourth filter 344 Synthesis unit S1 Light blocking data S2 Sensor signal D1 First data D2 Second data D3 Third data D4 Fourth data D5 Fifth data D6 Sixth data D7 Seventh data D8 Eighth data IMG1 Control image 4 High beam light distribution 6 Light blocking area 8 Illumination area 30 Host vehicle 32 Leading vehicle 510 Vibration stage 520 Vibration stage 522 Light source

Claims

1. A control device for controlling a light distribution variable lamp, wherein the light distribution variable lamp includes a plurality of light emitting pixels and is configured to irradiate a region where a high beam light distribution is to be formed with a beam having an intensity distribution corresponding to the luminance distribution of the plurality of light emitting pixels, and the control device removes a frequency component higher than a predetermined first cut-off frequency from first data indicating positions of an upper end and a lower end of a light shielding region from the vehicle side to generate second data, and removes a frequency component lower than a predetermined second cut-off frequency from third data indicating a pitch angle of the vehicle body based on a sensor signal from a lamp side sensor to generate fourth data, synthesizes the second data and the fourth data to determine positions of the upper end and the lower end of the light shielding region, and controls the light distribution variable lamp so that the high beam light distribution including the light shielding region is formed.

2. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control device removes a frequency component higher than a predetermined third cut-off frequency from fifth data indicating positions of a left end and a right end of the light shielding region from the vehicle side to generate sixth data, and removes a frequency component lower than a predetermined fourth cut-off frequency from seventh data indicating a yaw angle of the vehicle body based on a sensor signal from the lamp side sensor to generate eighth data, synthesizes the sixth data and the eighth data to determine positions of the left end and the right end of the light shielding region, and controls the light distribution variable lamp so that the high beam light distribution including the light shielding region is formed.

3. The control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the lamp side sensor is a gyro sensor.

4. The control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the lamp side sensor is a camera.

5. A vehicle lamp comprising the control device according to claim 1 or 2, a lamp side sensor capable of detecting information correlated with an inclination angle of the vehicle body, and the light distribution variable lamp.

6. A program for a control device that controls a variable light distribution lamp, wherein the variable light distribution lamp includes a plurality of light emitting pixels and is configured to be able to irradiate a region where a high beam light distribution is to be formed with a beam having an intensity distribution according to the luminance distribution of the plurality of light emitting pixels, and the program causes a processor of the control device to perform the steps of receiving a sensor signal from a lamp-side sensor, receiving first data indicating positions of an upper end and a lower end of a light shielding region from a vehicle side, generating second data by removing frequency components higher than a predetermined first cut-off frequency from the first data, generating third data indicating a pitch angle of a vehicle body based on the sensor signal, generating fourth data by removing frequency components lower than a predetermined second cut-off frequency from the third data, synthesizing the second data and the fourth data to determine positions of the upper end and the lower end of the light shielding region, and controlling the variable light distribution lamp so that the high beam light distribution including the light shielding region is formed. A program characterized by causing the above steps to be executed.

7. A vehicle lamp, comprising: a variable light distribution lamp; and a control device for controlling the variable light distribution lamp, wherein the variable light distribution lamp includes a plurality of light emitting pixels and is configured to be able to irradiate a region where a high beam light distribution is to be formed with a beam having an intensity distribution according to the luminance distribution of the plurality of light emitting pixels, and the control device: (i) when the vehicle lamp is stationary and a light spot corresponding to an object to be shielded in front of the vehicle lamp is vibrated at a frequency lower than a predetermined first frequency, the shielding region of the high beam light distribution follows the light spot; (ii) when the vehicle lamp is stationary and the light spot is vibrated at a frequency higher than the first frequency, the shielding region of the high beam light distribution does not follow the light spot; (iii) when the light spot is stationary and the vehicle lamp is vibrated in the pitch direction at a frequency lower than a predetermined second frequency, the shielding region of the high beam light distribution does not follow the light spot; and (iv) when the light spot is stationary and the vehicle lamp is vibrated in the pitch direction at a frequency higher than the second frequency, the shielding region of the high beam light distribution follows the light spot, and the vehicle lamp is characterized by controlling the variable light distribution lamp accordingly.

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