WO2018146801A1

WO2018146801A1 - Vehicle lighting control method and vehicle lighting control apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2018146801A1
Application number: PCT/JP2017/004976
Authority: WO
Inventors: 真弥北勝; 隆蘆田
Original assignee: 日産自動車株式会社; ルノーエス．ア．エス．
Priority date: 2017-02-10
Filing date: 2017-02-10
Publication date: 2018-08-16
Also published as: CN111278679A

Abstract

The present invention comprises a fog detection unit (11) which detects the presence or absence of fog around a vehicle. The present invention further comprises a lighting control unit (12) which, when the occurrence of fog is detected by the fog detection unit (11), sets to low beam the distribution of light ahead of the vehicle in the lane being travelled on, and sets to high beam the light distribution in a region adjacent to the travel lane. During the occurrence of fog, the region ahead of the lane that the vehicle is travelling on is set to low beam, and thus it is possible to prevent the light radiated from headlights (21R, 21L) from reflecting diffusely and dazzling the occupants of the vehicle.

Description

VEHICLE LIGHTING CONTROL METHOD AND VEHICLE LIGHTING CONTROL DEVICE

The present invention relates to a vehicle illumination control method and a vehicle illumination control apparatus for controlling light distribution of illumination mounted on a vehicle.

In Patent Document 1, when a fog detection unit is provided in a vehicle and the occurrence of fog is detected, the illumination light emitted from the headlamp is reflected by the fog by switching the light distribution of the headlamp from a high beam to a low beam. It is disclosed that a vehicle occupant is prevented from being dazzled.

JP 2015-39902 A

However, in the conventional example disclosed in Patent Document 1, the light distribution of the entire headlamp is switched from the high beam to the low beam when the occurrence of fog is detected, so that the light irradiated from the headlamp reaches far away. It becomes difficult to do. For this reason, a pedestrian around the lane in which the host vehicle travels or an occupant of the vehicle traveling in the oncoming lane may have difficulty recognizing the presence of the host vehicle until the host vehicle approaches a certain distance.

The present invention has been made in order to solve such a conventional problem. The object of the present invention is to prevent the passenger of the own vehicle from being dazzled when fog occurs. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle illumination control method and a vehicle illumination control device that can make it easier for pedestrians and oncoming vehicles in the vicinity of the vehicle to recognize the presence of the host vehicle.

According to one aspect of the present invention, it is determined whether or not fog is generated around the host vehicle, and when it is determined that fog is generated, the headlight transmits a light distribution in an area in front of the host vehicle to a low beam. The light distribution in the area adjacent to the front of the host vehicle is farther than the low beam.

According to one aspect of the present invention, when fog is generated, a pedestrian around the host vehicle and an occupant of the oncoming vehicle recognize the presence of the host vehicle while suppressing dazzling of the passenger of the host vehicle. It becomes possible to make it easy.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle lighting control device and its peripheral devices according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a headlamp. FIG. 2B is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which LEDs in a region to be a low beam among the LEDs included in the headlamp are turned off. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the fog detection unit of the vehicle lighting control apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the vehicle lighting control apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5A is an explanatory diagram schematically illustrating a state in which an area in front of the host vehicle is a low beam and an adjacent area is a high beam when fog occurs. FIG. 5B is an explanatory diagram schematically illustrating a state in which the entire area in front of the host vehicle is a high beam when fog is generated. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example in which the headlamp is composed of a headlight and an ADB. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle lighting control device and its peripheral devices according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the control device for vehicle lighting according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[Description of First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle lighting control apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the control device 100 controls the lighting, extinguishing, and light distribution of the left and

right headlamps

21R and 21L (lighting and headlights) in accordance with the occurrence of fog around the vehicle. Yes, it includes a fog detection unit 11 that detects the presence or absence of fog generation, and an illumination control unit 12 (illumination control circuit) that controls the

headlamps

21R and 21L.

The illumination control circuit (illumination control unit 12) can be realized using a microcomputer including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, and an input / output unit. A computer program (lighting control program) for causing the microcomputer to function as a lighting control circuit is installed in the microcomputer and executed. Thereby, the microcomputer functions as a plurality of information processing circuits (lighting control unit 13 and lane detection unit 15) included in the illumination control circuit. Here, an example in which the illumination control circuit is realized by software is shown. Of course, such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a conventional circuit component arranged to execute the function described in the embodiment. It is also possible to prepare dedicated hardware and configure the lighting control circuit. In addition, each information processing circuit (the lighting control unit 13 and the lane detection unit 15) included in the illumination control circuit may be configured by individual hardware. Furthermore, the lighting control circuit may be used also as an electronic control unit (ECU) used for other control related to the vehicle.

As shown in FIG. 2, the

headlamps

21R and 21L are adaptive driving beams (ADB) including a plurality of (for example, 120) LEDs arranged in a matrix of a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns. The

headlamps

21R and 21L can control the number, position, and illuminance of the LEDs to be lit. Further, as another example of the

headlamps

21R and 21L, for example, projector-type illumination can be used.

FIG. 2A is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the configuration of the

headlamps

21R and 21L, and shows an example in which 5 rows and 30 columns of LEDs are arranged. And a high beam and a low beam can be switched by setting the lighting area | region of several LED suitably. A low beam is a light distribution that irradiates light only to a region below the field of view as viewed from the front of the host vehicle. A high beam is a light distribution that irradiates light to a region relatively above the low beam, that is, a low beam. It is a light distribution that makes the irradiation region far away. Therefore, when a low beam is used, light can be irradiated to a region near the host vehicle, and when a high beam is used, light can be irradiated to a relatively far region.

FIG. 2B shows an example of lighting and extinguishing of the LED, the LED described in black indicates the extinguishing, and the LED described in white indicates the lighting. As shown in FIG. 2B, by setting the LED to be lit, the region R1 can be a low beam, and the regions R2 and R3 can be a high beam. In FIG. 2, for ease of explanation, 5 rows and 30 columns are shown, but the present invention is not limited to this.

The illumination control unit 12 is based on an image captured by a lighting control unit 13 that individually controls lighting and extinguishing of a plurality of LEDs included in the

headlamps

21R and 21L and an image captured by a camera 16 mounted on the vehicle. The vehicle includes a lane detector 15 that recognizes a white line on the road surface on which the vehicle travels and detects a lane on which the vehicle travels.

The fog detector 11 determines whether or not fog has occurred around the vehicle. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of the fog detection unit 11. The first illuminance sensor 31 that detects the illuminance of the area irradiated with the headlamps 21 </ b> R and 21 </ b> L and the illuminance of the area not irradiated with light are illustrated. A second illuminance sensor 32 for detection is provided. Furthermore, a comparison control unit 33 is provided that determines whether fog has occurred based on the difference between the illuminance detected by the first illuminance sensor 31 and the illuminance detected by the second illuminance sensor 32. Hereinafter, a process for determining whether or not fog has occurred will be described.

First, the

headlamps

21R and 21L emit light toward the front of the vehicle for a predetermined time. At this time, the illuminance detected by the first illuminance sensor 31 and the illuminance detected by the second illuminance sensor 32 are acquired, and the difference between them is calculated.
When fog is generated around the vehicle, the light when the

headlamps

21R and 21L are lit is irregularly reflected by the fog and detected by the first illuminance sensor 31. On the other hand, the second illuminance sensor 32 does not detect light.

Accordingly, the difference between the illuminance detected by the first illuminance sensor 31 and the illuminance detected by the second illuminance sensor 32 is calculated, and when this difference is large, it is estimated that the irregular reflection of light is large, and as a result Can be determined to have occurred.

In the present embodiment, an example in which the generation of fog is detected using the two illuminance sensors 31 and 32 is shown, but a configuration in which the generation of fog is detected using another method is also possible. In addition, when the occupant monitors the surrounding conditions and determines that fog is generated, it is possible to detect the generation of fog by operating an operation switch (not shown) or the like. . Furthermore, it is also possible to acquire fog generation information transmitted from the Meteorological Agency or a base station providing the weather by communication (for example, a smartphone) and determine the occurrence of fog based on the acquired information.

Also, it is possible to detect the fog generation state by analyzing the image captured by the camera 16 and to detect the fog generation state according to the operating state of the wiper.

When the vehicle lighting control device 100 according to the present embodiment determines that fog is occurring, the light distribution of the

headlamps

21R and 21L becomes a low beam for the traveling lane of the host vehicle. Thus, the lane (adjacent area) or the road shoulder (adjacent area) adjacent to the traveling lane of the host vehicle is set as a high beam. By doing so, even when other vehicles or pedestrians are not easily aware of the own vehicle when fog occurs, the presence of the own vehicle can be easily noticed by occupants and pedestrians of the other vehicle. Furthermore, the influence of the irregular reflection of the light irradiated in front of the host vehicle is avoided.

Hereinafter, the processing procedure of the vehicular illumination control device 100 according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. This process is executed by the illumination control unit 12 shown in FIG.
First, in step S11, the illumination control unit 12 acquires speed data from an ECU (not shown) or the like mounted on the vehicle. Then, it is determined whether or not the traveling speed Vs of the vehicle is within a range of 25 to 60 km / h. When the vehicle is not traveling at the speed of 25 to 60 km / h (NO in step S11), the control of the

headlamps

21R and 21L based on the generation of fog is not performed, and the normal light distribution is performed in step S15. The

headlamps

21R and 21L are controlled so as to be.

That is, when the traveling speed is 25 km / h or less, it is a slow driving, and it can be estimated that there is no problem even if the existence of the own vehicle is not noticed by the oncoming vehicle or the pedestrian, so the light distribution control at the time of fog generation is performed. Not performed. Further, when the traveling speed is 60 km / h or more, it can be estimated that smooth traveling is performed without performing the light distribution control at the time of fog generation, so the light distribution control at the time of fog generation is performed. Absent. The normal light distribution is, for example, a light distribution in which the area in front of the host vehicle is a high beam and the other area is a low beam during night driving.

On the other hand, when the host vehicle is traveling at a speed in the range of 25 to 60 km / h (YES in step S11), the illumination control unit 12 recognizes that fog has been generated in the fog detection unit 11 in step S12. Judge whether or not. As described above, the determination of fog generation is performed by calculating the difference between the illuminance detected by the first illuminance sensor 31 and the illuminance detected by the second illuminance sensor 32 in FIG. It is determined whether or not this has occurred.

If fog is not generated (NO in step S12), the illumination control unit 12 sets the

headlamps

21R and 21L to normal light distribution in step S15.
When fog is generated (YES in step S12), in step S13, the illumination control unit 12 recognizes the traveling lane of the host vehicle detected by the lane detecting unit 15, and in step S14, the front of the host vehicle is detected. The area of the traveling lane is a low beam, the area of the adjacent lane adjacent to the traveling lane, and the road shoulder area is a high beam. Here, the “adjacent lane” indicates, for example, an opposite lane in the case of a one-way lane facing traffic lane. In the case of a plurality of lanes such as two lanes on one side, a lane (for example, an overtaking lane) that travels in the same direction as the host vehicle is shown.

As a result, for example, as shown in FIG. 5A, only the road shoulder and the area of the adjacent lane are high beams, and the area in front of the host vehicle is a low beam. That is, as shown in FIG. 5A, the illumination light is irradiated to the low beam arrival line q2, and the illumination light is irradiated to the high beam areas Q1 and Q2. A fog lamp mounted on a general vehicle emits light up to the line q1.
On the other hand, in the normal high beam distribution, as shown in FIG. 5B, the illumination light is irradiated to the high beam region Q3, which is a region higher in front of the host vehicle than the low beam arrival line q2, so that the irradiation light is fogged. However, in this embodiment, the dazzling can be avoided.

Thus, in the vehicle lighting control apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment, when fog is generated around the host vehicle, the area of the traveling lane ahead of the host vehicle is set as a low beam. It is possible to avoid the problem that the illumination light irradiated from 21R and 21L is diffusely reflected by fog and the front of the host vehicle becomes difficult to see. Moreover, since the adjacent lanes and road shoulders can be made high beams, for example, a pedestrian walking on the road shoulders can quickly notice the presence of the vehicle. In addition, the vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane can be quickly noticed in the same manner.

Therefore, for example, when the adjacent lane is an opposite lane, such as one-way traffic on one side, the area of this opposite lane is set to a high beam, so that the host vehicle is present in the oncoming vehicle in the opposite lane. Can be recognized. Further, when the adjacent lane is an overtaking lane as in the case of a two-lane road, the vehicle traveling on the overtaking lane can be made aware of the presence of the own vehicle.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, when the traveling speed Vs is acquired and the traveling speed Vs is greater than the lower limit speed (for example, 25 km / m) and less than the upper limit speed (for example, 60 km / h), Implement light distribution control. Therefore, when traveling at a speed lower than the lower limit speed, light distribution control at the time of fog generation is not performed, so unnecessary control can be avoided. Similarly, when the vehicle travels at a speed higher than the upper limit speed, the light distribution control at the time of fog generation is not performed, so unnecessary control can be avoided. In the present embodiment, the lower limit speed and the up / down speed of the traveling speed Vs are set. However, any one of the lower limit speed and the upper limit speed may be set.

[Description of First Modification of First Embodiment]
When the road on which the vehicle travels is a curved road, the front of the vehicle is not necessarily the front area of the own lane. For example, if the road is curving to the left, the front of the vehicle may become an adjacent lane. If this area is a low beam, the vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane will be irradiated with a high beam. It becomes difficult to notice the existence of the vehicle.

In the first modification, the traveling direction of the host vehicle is estimated by detecting the steering angle of the vehicle, a front region is set according to the traveling direction, and light is emitted so that the front region becomes a low beam. . Furthermore, light is irradiated so that the periphery becomes a high beam. As a result, the vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane can be reliably irradiated with the high beam, and the vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane can be made aware of the presence of the host vehicle.

In addition to the method of using the steering angle, for example, a map of a travel path on which the host vehicle travels is acquired from map data, a lane curve road is recognized according to the map, and a low beam and It is also possible to set the area to be used.

[Description of Second Modification of First Embodiment]
In the first embodiment described above, the example in which the high beam and the low beam are controlled using the adaptive driving beam (ADB) having a plurality of LEDs as the

headlamps

21R and 21L has been described. In the second modification, an example in which light is emitted forward of the vehicle using a projector will be described. The projector has a number of pixels of about 1 million pixels, for example, and can project illumination light in front of the vehicle by projecting light.

That is, since the projector control unit can appropriately set the area to be projected, the area in front of the lane in which the host vehicle travels is set as a low beam, the adjacent lane and the road shoulder are set as a high beam, and thus the first embodiment. The same effect can be achieved.

[Third Modification of First Embodiment]
In the first embodiment described above, the

headlamps

21R and 21L made of a plurality of LEDs are provided. However, in the third modification, as shown in FIG. 6, a halogen lamp that irradiates light in front of the vehicle or the like. And the ADB (22) composed of a plurality of LEDs are mounted. At normal times when fog is not generated, light is irradiated forward of the vehicle using a lighting light, and light distribution control using ADB (22) is performed only when fog is generated.

Even in such a configuration, when fog is generated, the light distribution can be controlled using the ADB, so that the same effect as that of the first embodiment described above can be obtained.

[Description of Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle lighting control apparatus according to the second embodiment. The control device 101 shown in FIG. 7 is different from the control device 100 shown in the first embodiment in that the illumination control unit 12a includes an illuminance control unit 14. The illuminance control unit 14 controls the illuminance of each LED mounted on each

headlamp

21R, 21L. Moreover, the fog detection part 11 is equipped with the function to detect not only the presence or absence of fog generation but the density of fog.

In the second embodiment, when it is determined that fog has occurred, the fog density is further detected, and the higher the fog density, the higher the illuminance of the LED that is lit with the high beam.

Hereinafter, a processing procedure of the vehicle lighting control apparatus 101 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. This process is executed by the illumination control unit 12a shown in FIG.
First, in step S31, the illumination control unit 12a acquires speed data from an ECU (not shown) or the like mounted on the vehicle. Then, it is determined whether or not the traveling speed Vs of the vehicle is within a range of 25 to 60 km / h. When the vehicle is not traveling at the speed of 25 to 60 km / h (NO in step S31), the control of the

headlamps

21R and 21L based on the generation of fog is not performed, and the normal light distribution is performed in step S37. The

headlamps

21R and 21L are controlled so as to be.

When the host vehicle is traveling at a speed in the range of 25 to 60 km / h (YES in step S31), in step S32, the lighting control unit 13 recognizes that fog has occurred in the fog detection unit 11. Determine whether or not.

If fog has not occurred (NO in step S32), in step S37, the illumination control unit 12a sets the

headlamps

21R and 21L to normal light distribution. The normal light distribution is, for example, a light distribution in which the area in front of the host vehicle is a high beam and the other area is a low beam during night driving.

If fog is generated (YES in step S32), the illumination control unit 12a acquires the fog concentration in step S33. The fog density is calculated by calculating the difference between the illuminance detected by the first illuminance sensor 31 of FIG. 2 and the illuminance detected by the second illuminance sensor 32, and the greater the difference, the higher the density.

In step S34, the lane detector 15 of the illumination controller 12a analyzes the image captured by the camera 16 and recognizes the traveling lane of the host vehicle.

In step S35, the illumination control unit 12a sets the area of the traveling lane of the host vehicle detected by the lane detection unit 15 as a low beam, and sets the area of the adjacent lane adjacent to the traveling lane and the road shoulder area as a high beam.

Furthermore, in step S36, the illuminance control unit 14 of the illumination control unit 12a controls the illuminance when the LED is turned on. Specifically, control is performed such that the higher the fog density, the higher the illuminance of the LED in the high beam area. Therefore, when the fog concentration is high and it is difficult to visually recognize the surrounding situation, the illuminance of the LED to be lit is controlled to be high, so that a pedestrian traveling on the road shoulder or a vehicle traveling in the adjacent lane It becomes possible to make it easier to notice.

Thus, in the vehicle lighting control apparatus 101 according to the second embodiment, the mist density is detected, and the higher the mist density, the higher the illuminance of the LED to be a high beam, so the mist density is high. When the visibility is poor, illumination light with higher illuminance can be irradiated. Therefore, even when the fog concentration is high and it is difficult to visually recognize the surrounding situation, the presence of the host vehicle can be effectively recognized by a passenger of another vehicle or a pedestrian walking in the vicinity.

The vehicle lighting control method and the vehicle lighting control apparatus according to the present invention have been described based on the illustrated embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the configuration of each part has the same function. It can be replaced with any configuration having

11

Fog detection part

12, 12a Illumination control part (illumination control circuit)
13 lighting control unit 14 illuminance control unit 15 lane detection unit 16

camera

21R, 21L headlamp 22 ADB
31 1st illumination intensity sensor 32 2nd illumination intensity sensor 33 Comparison control part 100,101 Control apparatus Vs Traveling speed

Claims

A vehicle lighting control method for controlling light distribution of a headlight mounted on the host vehicle and irradiating illumination light in front of the host vehicle,
Determine whether fog has occurred around the vehicle,
When it is determined that the fog is generated, the headlight uses a light distribution in a region in front of the host vehicle as a low beam, and a light distribution in a region adjacent to the front of the host vehicle is farther than the low beam. A method for controlling vehicle lighting, which is characterized.
2. The vehicle illumination control method according to claim 1, wherein the mist density is determined, and the illuminance of the light distribution farther from the low beam is increased as the mist density is higher.
The vehicle according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least one of a lower limit speed and an upper limit speed of the vehicle is set, and normal light distribution is performed when the traveling speed of the vehicle is equal to or lower than the lower limit speed or higher than the upper limit speed. Lighting control method.
A vehicle lighting control device that controls light distribution of lighting mounted on the host vehicle,
An illumination control circuit for setting a light distribution in a region in front of the host vehicle to a low beam and a light distribution in a region adjacent to the front of the host vehicle farther than the low beam when fog is generated around the host vehicle; A vehicle lighting control device comprising: a vehicle lighting control device;