ADB Headlamp Illumination Gradient Control

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing vehicle headlamp control systems experience a significant difference in illumination intensity between the light shielding region and adjacent areas, causing discomfort for drivers, especially on curved roads where highly reflective objects are closer, leading to an incongruous light distribution.

Innovation Solution

The system employs a high-beam control unit that adjusts LED illumination intensities using a microcomputer and sensors to maintain a consistent illumination gradient between the light shielding region and adjacent areas, using PWM circuits and a two-dimensional optical deflector to ensure smooth transitions and minimize intensity differences.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Object-affected harmful factors

If LED elements are individually controlled to create a light shielding region for preceding vehicles in ADB mode, then glare toward preceding vehicles is suppressed, but a significant difference in illumination intensity between the light shielding region and adjacent areas causes driver discomfort

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveglare toward preceding vehicleVSAvoidillumination intensity difference between light shielding region and adjacent areas
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSIllumination intensity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by differentiating the control strategy for different spatial zones: in the light shielding region, LED elements are turned off to suppress glare, while in adjacent areas, LED elements maintain reference illumination intensity. This spatial differentiation of illumination characteristics resolves the contradiction by locally addressing glare suppression needs without creating excessive brightness contrast that would discomfort the driver.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Loss of information

If illumination intensity is maintained at reference level in adjacent areas while creating light shielding region, then visibility is maintained, but highly reflective objects on curved roads create strong reflections that amplify the illumination difference and increase driver discomfort

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvevisibility in high-beam modeVSAvoiddriver discomfort from illumination gradient
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies parameter changes by dynamically adjusting the illumination intensity parameter of LED elements based on road curvature detection. When a curved road is detected, the system modifies the illumination intensity in adjacent areas to compensate for amplified reflections from highly reflective objects, thereby maintaining visibility while reducing the harmful illumination gradient effect that causes driver discomfort.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentEP3459790B1Apparatus and method for controlling ADB-mode vehicle headlamp
Publication Date: 2022.07.20 STANLEY ELECTRIC CO LTD
  • EP3459790B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3459790B1 patent drawingFigure 2A~2B
  • EP3459790B1 patent drawingFigure 3A~3B

AI summary

An apparatus for controlling an adaptive drive beam mode vehicle headlamp (47, 52) of a subject vehicle (101) travelling a road (104) includes a headlamp driver (46, 51) adapted to drive the vehicle headlamp (47, 52), a preceding vehicle determining section (411) adapted to determine whether or not a preceding vehicle (102) is travelling ahead of the subject vehicle (101), a road state determining section (413) adapted to determine whether a state of the road (104) is straight or curved, and a curved-mode illumination intensity pattern outputting section (416) adapted to output a curved-mode illumination intensity pattern (Pc) to the headlamp driver (46, 51).