Adaptive Vehicle Lighting Control for Village Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle control systems lack the ability to distinguish between different lighting environments, such as bright and dark villages, leading to inflexible control of exterior lights, which can result in inadequate illumination or glare issues.
Innovation Solution
A system that uses an imaging system and controller to analyze external scene data, selecting between 'dark village', 'bright village', and 'non-village' modes based on ambient light levels, light peaks, and AC-powered light sources, allowing for adaptive control of exterior lights.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a single lighting mode is used for all village environments, then the control system is simple, but the illumination is inadequate for dark villages and causes glare in bright villages
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the village lighting environment into multiple distinct modes: dark village mode, bright village mode, and non-village mode. The controller analyzes image data to detect characteristics such as average ambient light level, number of light level peaks, and density of AC-powered light sources, then selects the appropriate mode based on which thresholds are met. This segmentation allows the system to adapt to different lighting conditions without requiring a single complex continuous control mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the lighting parameters (illumination intensity, beam pattern, color temperature) based on the detected village type. In dark village mode, the system uses higher illumination intensity with broader beam patterns to maximize visibility. In bright village mode, it reduces intensity and adjusts beam direction to prevent glare. This parameter adaptation resolves the contradiction by providing environment-specific optimization without requiring fundamentally different hardware systems.
2Illumination intensity
If high illumination is used in all villages, then visibility is improved, but glare is caused in bright villages
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by adjusting lighting characteristics based on the specific village environment detected. In dark villages, high illumination intensity is applied throughout the forward field of view. In bright villages, the system selectively reduces intensity in directions where oncoming traffic is detected and maintains higher intensity in areas requiring illumination. This localized adaptation allows the system to provide necessary visibility while minimizing glare harm to other road users.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from image analysis to continuously monitor the lighting environment and adjust illumination accordingly. The controller detects characteristics such as ambient light levels and AC-powered light source density, then feeds this information back to the lighting control to select appropriate modes. This closed-loop feedback mechanism ensures illumination is optimized for visibility while automatically reducing intensity when bright village conditions are detected, preventing glare without manual intervention.
3Measurement precision
If multiple lighting modes are implemented, then lighting precision is improved, but the control algorithm complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements dynamic threshold adjustment based on the detected environment. Different sets of thresholds are applied depending on the overall lighting conditions - for example, the absolute thresholds for detecting AC-powered light sources may be adjusted based on the average ambient light level. This dynamic adaptation allows the system to maintain high detection precision across varying conditions without requiring a prohibitively complex algorithm that must handle every possible scenario with fixed parameters.
Data Source
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AI summary
A system for controlling equipment of a controlled vehicle is provided. The system is configured to image a scene external and forward of the controlled vehicle and to generate image data corresponding to acquired images. The system includes a controller for receiving and analyzing the image data and for generating a control signal in response to analysis of the image data and in response to a selected mode of operation. The controller analyzes the image data in order to detect at least one characteristic in the image data and also selects a mode of operation from at least the following modes of operation: a dark village mode; a bright village mode; and at least one non-village mode. The controller selects a dark village mode if the at least one characteristic reaches a first threshold, a bright village mode if the at least one characteristic reaches a second threshold, and at least one non-village mode if the controller is not operating in either the dark village mode or the bright village mode.