Vehicle light control device, vehicle light control method, and recording medium with light control program recorded thereon

Abstract

The present invention is a vehicle light control device at least including: a control of a self-driving indicator lamp that is mounted on a vehicle equipped with a travel mode based on a self-driving control; and an on / off control of vehicle lights and a lamp color switching control of the lights that are executed on the basis of surrounding environment information. A processor therein performs an on-control of the self-driving indicator lamp when the self-driving travel mode is set. The processor performs an on-control of the lights when the visibility as measured on the basis of the surrounding environment information becomes less than a first visibility. When performing the lamp color switching control of the lights when the visibility becomes less than a second visibility lower than the first visibility, the processor restricts the lamp color switching control of the lights if the self-driving indicator lamp is lit, and changes the start timing of the lamp color switching control according to the presence or absence of a preceding other vehicle and relative conditions between the vehicle and the preceding other vehicle if the self-driving indicator lamp is not lit.

Description

Vehicle light control device, vehicle light control method, and recording medium recording a light control program

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle light control device for controlling lights mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile, a vehicle light control method, and a recording medium on which a light control program is recorded.

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, vehicles such as automobiles are equipped with various types of lamps. These various lamps are appropriately controlled by a lamp control device in response to, for example, changes in the surrounding environment of the vehicle.

[0003] One example of various types of lighting mounted on a vehicle is a fog lamp, also known as a fog light. Fog lamps are used as auxiliary lighting for headlights and other lights when forward visibility is poor due to bad weather, such as fog, rain, snow, or a blizzard, and also serve as auxiliary lighting to alert surrounding vehicles to the presence of the vehicle. Fog lamps are illuminated in white or yellow, for example. Fog lamps used as auxiliary lighting for headlights are specifically referred to as front fog lamps.

[0004] Generally, when the fog lamps are illuminated in yellow, there are advantages in that they are more visible to the outside (other vehicles, etc.) and also make it easier to check the road conditions in the vicinity of the vehicle in bad weather conditions such as fog, rain, snow, blizzard, etc. Therefore, it has been found that in bad weather, it is more desirable to set the fog lamp illumination color to yellow rather than white.

[0005] On the other hand, white fog lamps have the advantage of being able to emit a large amount of light, so it is considered desirable to set the fog lamp color to white in bad weather when relatively good long-distance visibility can be ensured.

[0006] In this way, by turning on the fog lamps, for example, in bad weather, the fog lamps not only ensure visibility but also have the function of notifying surrounding vehicles, such as preceding vehicles, following vehicles, and oncoming vehicles, of the presence of the vehicle.

[0007] Generally, fog lamps are designed to illuminate a wider area than headlights. For this reason, for example, driving with the fog lamps on during clear nighttime weather may have a negative impact on other vehicles in the vicinity. Furthermore, for example, if the fog lamps are too bright, they may also have a negative impact on other vehicles in the vicinity depending on weather conditions such as fog, rain, or snow.

[0008] Therefore, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2019-125372 discloses a vehicle lighting control device that controls the switching of fog lamps on and off depending on the surrounding environment (for example, weather conditions, etc.) Therefore, by controlling the fog lamps to be turned off on sunny days, it is possible to reduce the adverse effects of the fog lamps on other vehicles.

[0009] Meanwhile, in recent years, various lamps mounted on vehicles, for example, those using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as light source elements, have been put into practical use and are beginning to become widespread. Lamps using this type of LED have the advantage that the lighting color can be switched and controlled.

[0010] Therefore, for example, the vehicle lighting control device disclosed in Patent Publication No. 2021-114463 performs lighting control such as switching the headlight color from white to yellow depending on weather conditions, etc., to turn on the headlights as fog lights.

[0011] On the other hand, in recent years, automatic driving control technologies have been developed for vehicles such as automobiles, which allow vehicles to travel automatically without the need for driver operation. Also, various driving control devices that can execute various driving controls to assist the driver's driving operation by utilizing this type of automatic driving control technology have been proposed and are being put into practical use.

[0012] Therefore, in recent years, in vehicles equipped with a driving mode that allows the vehicle to be driven under automatic driving control, it has been considered to install automatic driving marker lights as marker lights to indicate to the outside that the vehicle is being driven under automatic driving control. As the light color of these automatic driving marker lights, it has been proposed to adopt, for example, a blue-based light color.

[0013] However, for example, when a vehicle is driven under automatic driving control and the fog lamps are turned on yellow in bad weather, the automatic driving signal lights and the fog lamps will be turned on simultaneously. Here, the automatic driving signal lights and the fog lamps on the vehicle may be installed in close proximity to each other.

[0014] In such cases, when the blue light of the automatic driving signal light and the yellow light of the fog lamp are turned on at the same time, especially in bad weather, the light color when viewed from a distance may appear to be the green light used in traffic lights, for example, due to color mixing, which may lead to misrecognition.

[0015] The present invention aims to provide a vehicle lighting control device, a vehicle lighting control method, and a recording medium having a lighting control program recorded thereon that can contribute to improving vehicle driving safety in bad weather, not only when the vehicle is being driven manually but also when the vehicle is being driven under automatic driving control.

[0016] In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle lighting control device according to one aspect of the present invention is mounted on a vehicle having a driving mode under automatic driving control, and executes lighting control including at least control of automatic driving marker lights that indicate to the outside that the vehicle is driving under automatic driving control, and on / off control of lights mounted on the vehicle based on surrounding environment information acquired by a surrounding environment recognition device, and light color switching control that switches the lighting color of the lights, The vehicle is equipped with one or more processors including hardware, and the processor controls the on-state of an automatic driving marker light when a driving mode based on automatic driving control is set, controls the on-state of the lights when the visibility measured based on the surrounding environment information becomes less than a first visibility, and controls the light color change of the lights when the visibility becomes less than a second visibility that is lower than the first visibility.When the automatic driving marker light is on, the processor limits the light color change control of the lights, and when the automatic driving marker light is not on, changes the start timing of the light color change control depending on whether or not there is another vehicle ahead or the relative situation between the vehicle and the other vehicle ahead.

[0017] A vehicle lighting control method according to one aspect of the present invention is a vehicle lighting control method that executes lighting control including at least control of autonomous driving marker lights that indicate to the outside that the vehicle is traveling under autonomous driving control, and on / off control of lights mounted on the vehicle and light color switching control that switches the lighting color of the lights based on surrounding environment information acquired by a surrounding environment recognition device, wherein when a driving mode under autonomous driving control is set, the autonomous driving marker lights are controlled to be on, when the visibility measured based on the surrounding environment information becomes less than a first visibility, the lights are controlled to be on, and when the visibility becomes less than a second visibility that is lower than the first visibility, the light color switching control of the lights is limited when the autonomous driving marker lights are on, and when the autonomous driving marker lights are not on, the start timing of the light color switching control is changed depending on whether or not there is another vehicle ahead or the relative situation between the vehicle and the other vehicle ahead.

[0018] A recording medium having a light control program recorded thereon according to one embodiment of the present invention causes a computer to execute the following processes: when a driving mode under automatic driving control is set, control to turn on automatic driving marker lights; when the visibility is set based on ambient environment information and the measured visibility is less than a first visibility, control to turn on lights; and when the visibility is set to less than a second visibility that is lower than the first visibility, limit the light color change control of the lights when the automatic driving marker lights are on; and when the automatic driving marker lights are not on, change the start timing of the light color change control depending on whether or not there is another vehicle ahead or the relative situation between the vehicle and the other vehicle ahead.

[0019] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicle lighting control device, a vehicle lighting control method, and a recording medium having a lighting control program recorded thereon, which can contribute to improving vehicle driving safety in bad weather, not only when the vehicle is being driven manually but also when the vehicle is being driven by automatic driving control.

[0020] A block diagram showing the schematic configuration of a vehicle control device including a vehicle light control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. A flowchart showing a part of the operation of a vehicle control device including a vehicle light control device according to an embodiment of the present invention (first half; during autonomous driving). A flowchart showing a part of the operation of a vehicle control device including a vehicle light control device according to an embodiment of the present invention (second half; during manual driving).

[0021] The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. The drawings used in the following description are schematic, and the dimensional relationships and scales of the components may be different for each component in order to show each component at a size that allows it to be recognized on the drawing. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments in terms of the number of components shown in the drawings, the shapes of the components, the size ratios of the components, the relative positional relationships of the components, and so on.

[0022] First, the schematic configuration of a vehicle control device including a vehicle light control device according to one embodiment of the present invention will be briefly described below with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of a vehicle control device including a vehicle light control device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] In order to avoid cluttering the drawing, only components directly related to the present invention are shown in Fig. 1, and other components are omitted. In the following description, only the main components directly related to the present invention will be described in detail.

[0024] The configuration of the vehicle control device including the vehicle lighting control device of this embodiment is basically similar to that of a conventional vehicle control device of the same type.

[0025] The vehicle control device 1 includes a camera unit 10, a control unit 20, various sensors (described in detail below; 14, 15), various control units (described in detail below; 21, 22), and the like.

[0026] The camera unit 10 is an in-vehicle camera device fixed to the upper center portion of the front interior of a vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the host vehicle; not shown) equipped with the vehicle control device 1. The camera unit 10 is configured to include a stereo camera 11, an image processing unit (hereinafter abbreviated as IPU) 12, an image recognition unit (image recognition ECU; Electronic Control Unit) 13, etc.

[0027] The stereo camera 11 is formed with two cameras, a main camera 11a and a sub-camera 11b. The main camera 11a and the sub-camera 11b are arranged, for example, in symmetrical positions with respect to the center of the vehicle width direction in the cabin of the vehicle, facing forward (in the direction of travel) of the vehicle. Each of the main camera 11a and the sub-camera 11b is composed of, for example, an imaging optical system, an imaging element such as a CMOS image sensor, and a processing circuit for processing imaging signals, etc.

[0028] With this configuration, the stereo camera 11 acquires two image data from two different viewpoints of the surrounding environment in a predetermined range ahead of the vehicle using the main camera 11a and the sub-camera 11b at a predetermined imaging period that is synchronized with each other. Then, stereo image data is generated based on the two image data acquired in this manner. This stereo image data is surrounding environment information that represents the surrounding environment while the vehicle is traveling. The surrounding environment information (image data) generated by the stereo camera 11 is output to the IPU 12.

[0029] The IPU 12 is a circuit unit that performs predetermined image processing on the surrounding environment information (image data) acquired by the stereo camera 11. The IPU 12 performs processing to detect the edges of various objects, such as objects depicted in the image, road markings, or boundary lines (hereinafter abbreviated as "marking lines") marked on the road surface or parking lot premises. Through this processing, the IPU 12 recognizes three-dimensional objects and marking lines around the vehicle. Furthermore, the IPU 12 acquires distance information from the positional deviation of corresponding edges in the left and right images based on the stereo image data, and generates image information (distance image information) including the distance information. The distance image information generated by the IPU 12 is output to the image recognition unit 13.

[0030] The image recognition unit 13 calculates the road curvature [1 / m] of the left and right dividing lines of the road on which the vehicle is traveling (the vehicle's traveling path) and the width between the left and right dividing lines (lane width), etc., based on the distance image information, etc., input from the IPU 12. Various well-known methods are used to calculate the road curvature and lane width.

[0031] In addition, the image recognition unit 13 performs predetermined pattern matching on the distance image information to recognize three-dimensional objects such as guardrails and curbs extending along the road and other vehicles in the vicinity, as well as the condition of the road surface (hereinafter referred to as road surface conditions, etc.).

[0032] Here, the recognition of three-dimensional objects by the image recognition unit 13 includes, for example, the type of three-dimensional object, the height of the three-dimensional object, the width of the three-dimensional object, the distance to the three-dimensional object, the speed of the three-dimensional object, the relative speed between the three-dimensional object and the vehicle, the relative distance between three-dimensional objects (for example, the lateral distance between a curb on the road edge and a nearby dividing line), etc. In addition, the road surface conditions, etc., are recognized, for example, whether the road surface is wet due to rain or melting snow, rainfall, snow accumulation, packed snow, or frozen road surface.

[0033] The various types of information recognized by the image recognition unit 13 are output as first surrounding environment information to the control unit 20. Therefore, the camera unit 10 functions as a surrounding environment recognition device that recognizes the surrounding environment around the vehicle.

[0034] The control unit 20 is a configuration unit or circuit unit that comprehensively controls the entire vehicle control device 1. Various control units, such as a light control unit 21 and an operation input control unit 22, are connected to the control unit 20 via an in-vehicle communication line such as a CAN (Controller Area Network).

[0035] Note that various control units other than the light control unit 21 and the operation input control unit 22 shown in FIG. 1 are also connected to the control unit 20, but since these control units are not directly related to the present invention, they will not be shown or described here.

[0036] The light control unit 21 is a circuit unit and a light control device that performs various controls on various lights 31 mounted on the vehicle. For this purpose, the light control unit 21 is connected to the various lights 31.

[0037] The various types of lights 31 include, for example, illuminating lights, signal marker lights, and indicator lights. Among these, illuminating lights include, for example, headlights, front and rear fog lights, side lights, license plate lights, back-up lights, and interior lights. Furthermore, signal marker lights include, for example, turn signals (blinkers or turn lamps), brake lights, tail lights, parking lights, side lights (low beam lights), and automatic driving indicator lights. Furthermore, indicator lights include, for example, indicator lights for meters, switches, air conditioning, audio equipment, and the like.

[0038] For example, the lighting control unit 21 performs various lighting controls, such as switching fog lamps and the like on or off (on or off) depending on the surrounding environment of the vehicle (weather, surrounding conditions of other vehicles nearby, etc.), changing the timing of lighting, switching the lighting color, and also controlling the on / off of automatic driving marker lights.

[0039] Here, among the light controls performed by the light control unit 21, the light color switching control is, for example, a control for switching the lighting color of the front fog lamps between white and yellow at any timing.

[0040] For this purpose, for example, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are used as the front fog lamps included in the lamps 31. The front fog lamps can be controlled by the light control unit 21 to switch their illumination color between white and yellow.

[0041] The operation input control unit 22 is a component or circuit unit that receives instruction signals from a plurality of various operation input members 32 arranged inside the vehicle and transmits them to the control unit 20. In response to these signals, the control unit 20 outputs appropriate control instructions to the component units corresponding to the received instruction signals. To this end, the operation input control unit 22 is connected to a plurality of various operation input members 32 arranged inside the vehicle.

[0042] The operation input member 32 may be, for example, a plurality of switches for issuing instructions to execute various driving assistance controls, mode selector switches for switching driving modes (manual driving mode, automatic driving mode, etc.), etc. Other examples of the operation input member 32 include a steering touch sensor that detects the driver's steering state, a driver monitoring system (DMS) that detects the driver's face authentication and line of sight, etc., an in-vehicle monitor system including an in-vehicle camera that recognizes the riding status of passengers including the driver, a touch panel display input device, various meters, etc.

[0043] The operation input control unit 22 outputs input information such as various operation instructions (on / off instructions, etc.) input by the driver using the operation input member 32 to the control unit 20 .

[0044] In addition, the control unit 20 is connected to various sensors such as an on-board radar device 14 and a locator unit 15 .

[0045] The onboard radar device 14 is composed of multiple sensors, such as multiple millimeter-wave radars. The multiple millimeter-wave radars detect three-dimensional objects, primarily pedestrians and vehicles traveling alongside, as well as structures (e.g., curbs, guardrails, building walls, plants, and other three-dimensional objects) located on the edge of the road (e.g., the edge of the shoulder) by receiving and analyzing reflected waves from objects in response to output radio waves. Furthermore, the multiple millimeter-wave radars also detect three-dimensional obstacles on the road. In this case, the multiple millimeter-wave radars detect specific information about the three-dimensional object, such as the width of the three-dimensional object, the position of a representative point of the three-dimensional object (relative position and distance to the vehicle), and the relative speed.

[0046] The onboard radar device 14 includes a plurality of sensors (such as a plurality of millimeter-wave radars) disposed, for example, on the left and right sides of the front bumper (referred to as front left and right side sensors) and on the left and right sides of the rear bumper (referred to as rear left and right side sensors). The front left and right side sensors detect, as second surrounding environment information, three-dimensional objects present in areas diagonally forward and to the left and right of the vehicle, which are difficult to recognize in images from the stereo camera 11. The rear left and right side sensors detect, as second surrounding environment information, three-dimensional objects present in areas diagonally forward and to the left and right of the vehicle, which are difficult to recognize with the front left and right side sensors.

[0047] In this way, the on-board radar device 14 functions as a surrounding environment recognition device that recognizes the surrounding environment of the vehicle. Information acquired by each sensor of the on-board radar device 14 is sent to the control unit 20.

[0048] The locator unit 15 includes a GNSS sensor 15a and a high-precision road map database (road map DB) 15b.

[0049] The GNSS sensor 15a receives positioning signals transmitted from a plurality of positioning satellites to determine the position (latitude, longitude, altitude, etc.) of the vehicle.

[0050] The road map DB 15b is a large-capacity storage medium such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD), and stores high-precision road map information (dynamic map). This road map DB 15b stores lane data required for autonomous driving, such as lane width data, lane center position coordinate data, lane heading angle data, and speed limits. This lane data is stored at intervals of several meters for each lane on the road map.

[0051] Locator unit 15 can also acquire real-time information about the surrounding environment at the vehicle position measured by GNSS sensor 15 a (e.g., traffic congestion information, weather information, etc.) by communicating with an external system (not shown). In this case, the weather information includes, for example, information about the occurrence of snowfall in the area including the vehicle position, rainfall information, snowfall information, snow accumulation information, temperature and humidity information, etc.

[0052] Then, for example, based on a request signal from the control unit 20, the road map DB 15b outputs road map information of a set range based on the vehicle position measured by the GNSS sensor 15a as third surrounding environment information to the control unit 20. In this way, the locator unit 15 has a function as a surrounding environment recognition device that recognizes the surrounding environment around the vehicle.

[0053] The control unit 20 controls the vehicle's running based on the information acquired by the various sensors. The control unit 20 also controls the lighting of the lights 31 as needed based on the surrounding environment information recognized by the camera unit 10, the on-board radar device 14, the locator unit 15, etc.

[0054] All or part of the image recognition unit 13, the control unit 20, the locator unit 15, the light control unit 21, the operation input control unit 22, etc. are configured by a processor including hardware.

[0055] Here, the processor is composed of a well-known configuration including, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a non-volatile memory, a non-volatile storage, a non-transitory computer readable medium, and peripheral devices thereof.

[0056] Software programs to be executed by the CPU and fixed data such as data tables are stored in advance in ROM, nonvolatile memory, nonvolatile storage devices, etc. The CPU reads out the software programs stored in ROM, etc., expands them into RAM, and executes them. The software programs also refer to various data, etc. as appropriate, thereby realizing the functions of the above-mentioned components and components units (13, 14, 15, 21, 22), etc.

[0057] The processor may be configured with a semiconductor chip such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), etc. The above-mentioned components and units (13, 14, 15, 21, 22) may be configured with an electronic circuit.

[0058] Furthermore, the software program may be in a form in which it is recorded in whole or in part as a computer program product on a portable disk medium such as a flexible disk, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM, or on a non-transitory computer readable medium such as a card-type memory, HDD (Hard Disk Drive) device, or SSD (Solid State Drive) device.

[0059] The operation of the vehicle control device 1 including the vehicle light control device of this embodiment configured as described above will be described below with reference to Figures 2 and 3. Figures 2 and 3 are flowcharts showing part of the operation of the vehicle control device including the vehicle light control device of this embodiment.

[0060] 2 and 3 show fog lamp light control processing performed in response to the surrounding environment while a vehicle equipped with a vehicle control device 1 including the light control device (light control unit 21) of this embodiment is traveling on a road, etc. Of these, Fig. 2 shows the operation when the vehicle is traveling mainly under automatic driving control, while Fig. 3 shows the operation when the vehicle is traveling mainly under manual driving control.

[0061] First, it is assumed that a vehicle equipped with the vehicle control device 1 including the light control unit 21 of this embodiment is traveling on a road or the like (not shown).

[0062] 2, the control unit 20 checks an input signal from the operation input member 32 via the operation input control unit 22. Then, it checks whether an instruction signal (ON signal) for activating the autonomous driving mode has been generated from the operation input member 32. The autonomous driving mode refers to an operating mode in which the vehicle is driven by autonomous driving control.

[0063] If it is confirmed that an automatic driving mode ON signal has been generated, the process proceeds to step S52. If an automatic driving mode ON signal has not been generated (or an automatic driving OFF signal or manual driving ON signal has been generated), the process proceeds to step S53.

[0064] In step S53, the control unit 20 checks whether the automatic driving marker light among the lights 31 is on or not through the light control unit 21. If it is confirmed that the automatic driving marker light is on, the process proceeds to step S54. If it is not confirmed that the automatic driving marker light is on (it is off), the process proceeds to step S61 in FIG. 3.

[0065] In step S54, the control unit 20 executes a light control process to turn off the automatic driving marker light among the lights 31 through the light control unit 21. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S61 in FIG.

[0066] On the other hand, in step S52, the control unit 20 executes a light control process to turn on the automatic driving marker light among the lights 31 via the light control unit 21. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S55.

[0067] In step S55, the control unit 20 checks whether the fog lamps among the lamps 31 are on or not through the light control unit 21. If it is confirmed that the fog lamps are on, the process proceeds to step S56. If it is not confirmed that the fog lamps are on (they are off), the process proceeds to step S61.

[0068] In step S56, the control unit 20 checks via the light control unit 21 whether the lighting color of the fog lamps that are turned on among the lamps 31 is yellow. If it is confirmed that the lighting color of the fog lamps is yellow, the process proceeds to step S57. If it is confirmed that the lighting color of the fog lamps is not yellow (is white), the process proceeds to step S61.

[0069] In step S57, the control unit 20 executes a light control process to change the lighting color of the fog lamps, among the lamps 31, from yellow to white via the light control unit 21. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S57.

[0070] In step S61, the control unit 20 continues traveling while recognizing the surrounding environment of the vehicle based on surrounding environment information acquired from time to time using the surrounding environment recognition device (10, 14, 15, etc.). The surrounding environment recognition process executed here is a well-known process that is generally performed in conventional vehicle control devices.

[0071] In step S62, the control unit 20 checks the weather conditions around the vehicle while it is traveling. Here, bad weather conditions are assumed to be, for example, foggy conditions, rainy conditions, or snowy conditions accompanied by a snowstorm. In other words, bad weather conditions are assumed to be conditions in which it is appropriate to drive with the vehicle's lights 31, for example, the fog lamps, turned on.

[0072] Specifically, for example, in step S62, the control unit 20 measures the visibility ahead of the host vehicle based on the image information acquired by the camera unit 10.

[0073] Here, visibility refers to the distance to a clearly visible object ahead of the vehicle (e.g., another preceding vehicle, etc.) Visibility is calculated, for example, by measuring the distance to a clearly visible object ahead of the vehicle based on stereo image information acquired by camera unit 10.

[0074] If it is confirmed in the processing of step S62 that the measured visibility is less than the first visibility (for example, 200 meters (m)), it is determined that the weather conditions are bad, and the processing proceeds to step S63. On the other hand, if it is confirmed that the measured visibility is equal to or greater than the first visibility, it is determined that the weather conditions are good (or that the weather conditions have improved), and the processing proceeds to step S64. In the processing of step S62, it is confirmed whether the visibility has decreased below a predetermined threshold (first visibility).

[0075] Next, in step S64, the control unit 20 checks whether the fog lamps among the lamps 31 are on or not through the light control unit 21. If it is confirmed that the fog lamps are on, the process proceeds to step S65. If it is not confirmed that the fog lamps are on (they are off), the process returns to step S51.

[0076] In step S65, the control unit 20 executes a light control process to turn off the fog lamps among the lamps 31 via the light control unit 21. Thereafter, the process returns to step S51.

[0077] On the other hand, in step S63, the control unit 20 checks whether the fog lamps are on, as in the process of step S64 described above. If it is confirmed that the fog lamps are on (ON state), the process returns to step S51. If it is not confirmed that the fog lamps are on (OFF state), the process proceeds to step S67.

[0078] In step S67, the control unit 20 executes a light control process to turn on the fog lamps among the lamps 31 in white lighting color via the light control unit 21. Thereafter, the process returns to step S51.

[0079] As described above, if the generation of the automatic driving mode on signal is not confirmed in the processing of step S51 in Figure 2, and after processing of steps S53 and S54, the processing proceeds to processing of step S61 in Figure 3, and in the subsequent processing steps, a processing sequence according to the manual driving mode is performed.

[0080] Note that the processing steps S61 to S65 and S67 in Fig. 3 are substantially the same as the processing steps S61 to S65 and S67 in Fig. 2. Therefore, in the following explanation, the processing steps S61 to S65 and S67 in Fig. 3 will be explained briefly.

[0081] In step S61 of FIG. 3, the control unit 20 continues traveling while executing the surrounding environment recognition process.

[0082] In step S62, the control unit 20 checks the weather conditions around the vehicle while it is traveling. Specifically, the control unit 20 measures the visibility ahead of the vehicle based on image information acquired by the camera unit 10. If it is determined that the measured visibility is less than a first visibility (e.g., 200 meters (m)), the process proceeds to step S63. If it is determined that the measured visibility is equal to or greater than the first visibility, the process proceeds to step S64.

[0083] Next, in step S64, the control unit 20 checks whether the fog lamps are on. If it is confirmed that the fog lamps are on, the process proceeds to step S65. If it is not confirmed that the fog lamps are on (they are off), the process returns to step S61.

[0084] In step S65, the control unit 20 executes a light control process to turn off the fog lamps among the lamps 31 via the light control unit 21. Thereafter, the process returns to step S61.

[0085] On the other hand, in step S63, the control unit 20 checks whether the fog lamps are on, as in the process of step S64 described above. If it is confirmed that the fog lamps are on, the process proceeds to step S66. If it is not confirmed that the fog lamps are on (they are off), the process proceeds to step S67.

[0086] In step S67, the control unit 20 executes a light control process to turn on the fog lamps among the lamps 31 in white lighting color via the light control unit 21. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S69.

[0087] On the other hand, in step S66, the control unit 20 checks via the light control unit 21 whether the lighting color of the fog lamps that are turned on among the lamps 31 is yellow. If it is confirmed that the lighting color of the fog lamps is yellow, the process proceeds to step S68. If it is confirmed that the lighting color of the fog lamps is not yellow (is white), the process proceeds to step S69.

[0088] In step S68, the control unit 20 executes a light control process to change the lighting color of the fog lamps, among the lamps 31, from yellow to white via the light control unit 21. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S69.

[0089] In step S69, the control unit 20 measures the visibility ahead of the vehicle based on the image information acquired by the camera unit 10. If it is determined that the measured visibility is less than the second visibility (for example, 150 meters (m)), the process proceeds to step S70. If it is determined that the measured visibility is equal to or greater than the second visibility, the process returns to step S62. In step S69, it is determined whether the visibility has decreased below a predetermined threshold (second visibility).

[0090] In step S70, the control unit 20 checks whether or not there is another vehicle ahead, based on information acquired by the camera unit 10 or the on-board radar device 14. If the presence of another vehicle ahead is confirmed, the process proceeds to step S71. If the presence of another vehicle ahead is not confirmed, the process proceeds to step S72.

[0091] In step S71, the control unit 20 checks the relative situation between the host vehicle and the other preceding vehicle based on information acquired by the camera unit 10 or the on-board radar device 14. The relative situation between the host vehicle and the other preceding vehicle is, for example, the distance from the host vehicle to the other preceding vehicle, the approach speed of the host vehicle to the other preceding vehicle, or the width size (length) or rear size (area) of the other preceding vehicle.

[0092] Here, the distance to the other preceding vehicle, the approach speed to the other preceding vehicle, the width size or rear size of the other preceding vehicle, etc. can be calculated using various sensors, such as the camera unit 10.

[0093] Therefore, in the processing of step S71, the control unit 20 checks whether the distance from the vehicle to the preceding vehicle is shorter than a predetermined distance, whether the speed at which the vehicle is approaching the preceding vehicle is higher than a predetermined speed, and whether the width size or rear size of the preceding vehicle is larger than a predetermined size.

[0094] The threshold values ​​for the predetermined distance from the own vehicle to the preceding vehicle, the approach speed of the own vehicle to the preceding vehicle, and the width size or rear size of the preceding vehicle are set to predetermined values ​​as appropriate.

[0095] Here, in any case where the distance from the own vehicle to the other preceding vehicle is shorter than a predetermined distance, or the own vehicle's approach speed to the other preceding vehicle is high, or the other preceding vehicle has a large width size or rear size, it is desirable to make the other preceding vehicle aware of the presence of the own vehicle, which will be the following vehicle, as early as possible.

[0096] For example, it is known that the shorter the distance from the host vehicle to the preceding vehicle, or the higher the host vehicle's approach speed to the preceding vehicle, the greater the risk of collision between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle. Therefore, the preceding vehicle desires to be aware of the presence of the host vehicle as soon as possible.

[0097] Furthermore, if the preceding vehicle has a large width or rearward dimension, i.e., if the preceding vehicle is a large vehicle, the amount of raindrops or snow smoke kicked up by the wheels of the preceding vehicle will be considerable, which will tend to reduce rearward visibility for the preceding vehicle and forward visibility for the following vehicle.

[0098] Therefore, in the light control unit 21 of this embodiment, when the presence of a preceding vehicle is confirmed, if the preceding vehicle is close, if the approaching speed to the preceding vehicle is high, or if the preceding vehicle is large, the timing of controlling the fog lamps to change from white to yellow is set earlier. This allows the preceding vehicle to quickly become aware of the presence of the vehicle, which is the following vehicle. That is, in bad weather conditions, the lower the visibility, the more yellow it is desirable for the fog lamps to be illuminated.

[0099] 3, if any of the three situations described above is met in step S71, the process proceeds to step S73. If none of the three situations is met, the process proceeds to step S74.

[0100] Then, in step S73, the control unit 20 executes a light control process to change the lighting color of the fog lamps, among the lamps 31, from white to yellow via the light control unit 21. Thereafter, the process returns to step S51 in FIG.

[0101] Meanwhile, in step S74, the control unit 20 measures the visibility ahead of the vehicle based on the image information acquired by the camera unit 10. If it is determined that the visibility is less than the third visibility (for example, 100 meters (m)), the process proceeds to step S73. If it is determined that the visibility is equal to or greater than the third visibility, the process returns to step S62. That is, in step S71, it is determined whether the visibility has decreased below a predetermined threshold (third visibility). If the visibility has decreased below the predetermined threshold (third visibility), the process of step S73 (light color switching control process [white to yellow]) is executed.

[0102] On the other hand, if the presence of a preceding vehicle is not confirmed in the processing of step S71 and the process proceeds to step S72, the control unit 20 measures the visibility ahead of the host vehicle based on the image information acquired by the camera unit 10 in step S72. If it is confirmed that the visibility is less than a fourth visibility (e.g., 50 meters (m)), the process proceeds to step S73. If it is confirmed that the visibility is equal to or greater than the fourth visibility, the process returns to step S70. That is, in the processing of step S72, it is confirmed whether the visibility has decreased below a predetermined threshold (fourth visibility). If the visibility has decreased below the predetermined threshold (fourth visibility), the process of step S73 (light color switching control process [from white to yellow]) is executed.

[0103] In this embodiment, the predetermined visibility thresholds are exemplified as a first visibility, a second visibility, a third visibility, and a fourth visibility. In this case, the predetermined thresholds are set to values ​​that decrease visibility in the order of the first visibility, the second visibility, the third visibility, and the fourth visibility (first visibility > second visibility > third visibility > fourth visibility).

[0104] Specifically, the first visibility is, for example, less than 200 meters, the second visibility is, for example, less than 150 meters, the third visibility is, for example, less than 100 meters, and the fourth visibility is, for example, less than 50 meters.

[0105] Generally, the standard visibility for dense fog, etc. is defined as 200 meters, and the numerical settings above are given as examples based on this definition. However, these setting values ​​are not limited to the example values ​​and can be set as appropriate.

[0106] As described above, according to the embodiment, when a vehicle is driven in conditions where visibility is reduced due to bad weather or the like, and the automatic driving signal lights are turned on and the vehicle is driven in automatic driving mode, the fog lights are always lit in white and are prohibited from switching to yellow.

[0107] By controlling the lighting in this way, the automatic driving signal lights (blue) and the fog lights (yellow) are not turned on at the same time when driving in automatic driving mode, which prevents the misidentification of the light colors when viewed from a distance in bad weather, etc. This contributes to ensuring the driving safety of the vehicle and other vehicles in the vicinity.

[0108] On the other hand, under similar circumstances, when the vehicle is traveling in manual driving mode, lighting control is performed to switch the fog lamp color from white to yellow in accordance with the results of the recognition of the surrounding environment.

[0109] In this case, if the presence of another vehicle ahead is confirmed, the timing for starting the light color change control is changed depending on the condition of the other vehicle ahead (for example, the distance from the vehicle to the other vehicle ahead, the approaching speed of the vehicle ahead to the other vehicle ahead, or the width size of the other vehicle ahead, etc.).

[0110] That is, when the distance from the vehicle to the preceding vehicle is short, when the vehicle approaches the preceding vehicle at a high speed, or when the preceding vehicle is large in width, the light color change process is performed early.

[0111] Such lighting control can contribute to improving the visibility of the surroundings of the vehicle. At the same time, it can make the surroundings (especially other vehicles ahead) more aware of the presence of the vehicle. Therefore, this can contribute to ensuring the driving safety of the vehicle and other surrounding vehicles.

[0112] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and applications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Furthermore, the above-described embodiments include inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining the disclosed multiple constituent elements. For example, if the problem to be solved by the invention can be solved and the effects of the invention can be obtained even if some constituent elements are deleted from all the constituent elements shown in one embodiment, the configuration from which these constituent elements are deleted can be extracted as the invention. Furthermore, constituent elements from different embodiments may be appropriately combined. The present invention is not limited by specific embodiments other than as limited by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A vehicle lighting control device that is mounted on a vehicle having a driving mode under autonomous driving control and that executes lighting control including at least control of autonomous driving marker lights that indicate to the outside that the vehicle is driving under autonomous driving control, and on / off control of lights mounted on the vehicle and light color switching control that switches the lighting color of the lights based on surrounding environment information acquired by a surrounding environment recognition device, the device comprising one or more processors including hardware, wherein the processor: when a driving mode under autonomous driving control is set, performs on control of autonomous driving marker lights, when visibility measured based on the surrounding environment information falls below a first visibility, performs on control of the lights, and when visibility falls below a second visibility that is lower than the first visibility, restricts the light color switching control of the lights when the autonomous driving marker lights are on, When the automatic driving marker light is not on, the vehicle lighting control device changes the start timing of the light color switching control depending on whether or not there is another vehicle ahead, or the relative situation between the vehicle and the other vehicle ahead.

2. The vehicle lighting control device according to claim 1, characterized in that the surrounding environment recognition device is a camera unit, the camera unit includes a stereo camera device, and the surrounding environment information acquired by the surrounding environment recognition device is distance image information.

3. The vehicle lighting control device according to claim 1, wherein the lighting devices mounted on the vehicle include at least automatic driving marker lights and fog lights.

4. A vehicle lighting control device according to claim 1, characterized in that the lighting color switching control performs lighting control to switch the lighting color of the lamps between white lighting and yellow lighting.

5. A vehicle lighting control device as described in claim 1, characterized in that when the automatic driving marker light is on, the switching of the lights to yellow lighting is prohibited.

6. A vehicle lighting control device as described in claim 1, characterized in that the relative situation between the subject vehicle and the preceding vehicle is at least the distance between the subject vehicle and the preceding vehicle, or the approach speed of the subject vehicle to the preceding vehicle, or the width size or rear area of ​​the preceding vehicle.

7. When the visibility falls below a second visibility range where visibility is lower than the first visibility range and the light color change control of the lights is performed, if the automatic driving marker light is not on and the presence of the other preceding vehicle is detected, and if the distance between the subject vehicle and the other preceding vehicle is short, or if the subject vehicle's approaching speed to the other preceding vehicle is high, or if the other preceding vehicle has a large width or rear area, the light color change control of the lights is performed immediately; if the distance between the subject vehicle and the other preceding vehicle is short, or if the subject vehicle's approaching speed to the other preceding vehicle is high, or if the other preceding vehicle has a large width or rear area, the light color change control of the lights is performed when the visibility falls below a third visibility range where visibility is lower than the second visibility range, and 7. A vehicle lighting control device according to claim 6, wherein when the presence of the preceding vehicle is not detected, the light color switching control of the lamps is performed when the visibility falls below a fourth visibility range that is lower than the third visibility range.

8. The vehicle lighting control device according to claim 1, characterized in that the lighting color of the automatic driving marker light is a blue-based color.

9. A vehicle lighting control method that executes lighting control including at least control of automatic driving marker lights that indicate to the outside that the vehicle is driving under automatic driving control, and on / off control of lights mounted on the vehicle and light color switching control that switches the lighting color of the lights based on surrounding environment information acquired by a surrounding environment recognition device, wherein the method performs on control of automatic driving marker lights when a driving mode under automatic driving control is set, performs on control of the lights when visibility measured based on the surrounding environment information falls below a first visibility, and performs light color switching control of the lights when visibility falls below a second visibility that is lower than the first visibility, wherein the method restricts the light color switching control of the lights when the automatic driving marker lights are on, and changes the start timing of the light color switching control when the automatic driving marker lights are not on depending on whether there is another vehicle ahead or the relative situation between the vehicle and the other vehicle ahead.

10. A recording medium having recorded thereon a light control program that causes a computer to execute the following processes: a process for controlling the on-state of automatic driving marker lights when a driving mode under automatic driving control is set; a process for measuring visibility based on ambient environment information, and controlling the on-state of lights when the measured visibility falls below a first visibility; and a process for restricting the light color change control of the lights when the visibility falls below a second visibility that is lower than the first visibility, when controlling the light color change of the lights, when the automatic driving marker lights are on, and a process for changing the start timing of the light color change control depending on whether or not there is another vehicle ahead, or the relative situation between the vehicle and the other vehicle ahead, when the automatic driving marker lights are not on.

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