JP2000225888A - Vehicle head lamp control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a pedestrian in front from being dazzled. SOLUTION: The optical axes of head lamps 2 of a vehicle are adjustable in the vertical and lateral directions. A radar 4 and a navigation system 5, etc., detect a pedestrian in front and the shape of a road on which the vehicle is currently traveling, particularly the planer shape and the side shapes. When a pedestrian is facing the vehicle, the upper projection limit of the head lamps 2 is generally adjusted downward to the highest possible position in a range lower than the face of the facing pedestrian. When a facing pedestrians is on the roadway, not on the sidewalk, the degree of danger is high, and the optical axes are changed to project to the facing pedestrian. According to the planer shape (right turn, left turn, straight) and the side shapes (flat, protruded, recessed) of a road, preventing the impairment of dazzling to a facing pedestrian as a principle, the optical axes are controlled and changed to increase the visibility of the driver on the vehicle.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a headlight control device for a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, vehicles equipped with a headlight having a high level of light (bright) tend to increase, and vehicles equipped with a discharge type (HID type) headlight have been increasing. , The light amount becomes extremely high. Increasing the amount of light of the headlight is advantageous in terms of visibility for the driver of the host vehicle, but increases the danger of giving glare to a person present in front of the host vehicle. JP-A-7-6
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9125 discloses a technique in which when an oncoming vehicle is detected, the irradiation direction of the headlight is changed to prevent the driver of the oncoming vehicle from being dazzled. .

[0003]

By the way, when the amount of light of the headlight becomes a high level, it is advantageous in that the pedestrian existing near the road is clearly recognized, but it is irradiated from the headlight. Pedestrians will feel dazzling. That the pedestrian feels dazzling like this,
It will be difficult to check the movement of the traveling vehicle,
It may also interfere with the pedestrians' own safety actions.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to prevent a situation in which a front pedestrian existing in front of a host vehicle is dazzled. An object of the present invention is to provide a headlight control device for a vehicle.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention adopts the following solution. That is, as described in claim 1 of the claims, an irradiation direction changing means for changing the irradiation direction of the headlight, and a forward pedestrian detection means for detecting a forward pedestrian existing in front of the vehicle. And an irradiation direction control means for controlling the irradiation direction changing means such that when the front pedestrian detection means detects the front pedestrian, the amount of light hitting the front pedestrian is reduced. Preferred embodiments on the premise of the above solution are as described in claim 2 and the following claims.

[0006]

According to the first aspect, when a pedestrian in front is detected, the amount of light emitted to the pedestrian in front is reduced, thereby giving glare to pedestrians in front. Is prevented. According to the second aspect, the light amount reduction control is performed only when the forward pedestrian is an oncoming pedestrian who may be able to see the amount of light emitted from the own vehicle. In this case, it is possible to satisfy a high level of both securing a sufficient forward visibility by the driver of the host vehicle and preventing the front pedestrian from being dazzled.

According to the third aspect, a pedestrian present on the road has a higher risk than a pedestrian present on the sidewalk, and the light amount reduction control is appropriately performed according to the height of the risk. Can be. According to the fourth aspect, substantially the same effect as the effect according to the second aspect can be obtained. According to the fifth aspect, the irradiation state for the pedestrian in front is different depending on the road shape, but the light amount reduction control can be appropriately performed according to the difference in the irradiation state.

According to the sixth aspect, the road on which the lane marking is located has a considerably large left-right width, and the degree of glare given to a forward pedestrian located on the side opposite to the legally driven side is provided. Is considerably lower than the degree of glare given to a forward pedestrian existing on the legally running side, and the light amount reduction control can be appropriately performed according to the degree of glare. According to the seventh aspect, by setting the irradiation upper limit position lower than the position of the face of the front pedestrian, that is, the position of the eyes that senses the light, the effect corresponding to the first aspect can be more sufficiently exhibited. According to claim 8, since the irradiation direction is changed by changing the direction of the optical axis,
The irradiation angles (irradiation ranges) in the vertical and horizontal directions are not narrowed at all. In addition, the light amount reduction control is appropriately performed in consideration of both the planar shape and the side surface shape of the road, and the effect corresponding to claim 1 can be more sufficiently exhibited.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a vehicle 1 as a host vehicle, and has left and right low beam headlights 2 as headlights thereof.
R and L, and left and right high-beam headlamps 3R and 3L. In the following description, if there is no need to distinguish between left and right, 2 or 3 without adding R and L symbols. It will be shown only by the reference symbol. The irradiation direction of the low beam headlight 2 is controlled to be changed as described later. In the embodiment, the irradiation direction is changed by changing the direction of the optical axis. I have. A radar 4 is provided on the front of the vehicle 1 to detect a distance to an object ahead, an object shape (including size), an object direction, and the like. FIG. 2 shows a control system relating to the control of the headlight 2 in the vehicle 1. In FIG. 2, U denotes a controller configured using a microcomputer.
Is navigation for detecting road information. Note that a camera (image) can be used for detecting the road shape and the forward object.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show an example of a low beam headlamp 2 (2R, 2L) in which the direction of the optical axis can be changed. In the embodiment, a discharge having a very high (large) light amount is used. It is a formula. The headlight 2 includes a bulb 11
And a reflecting mirror 12, and a lower portion of the reflecting mirror 12 has a pivot portion 13 formed on the vehicle body at a left and right intermediate portion thereof.
Are engaged with each other so as to be swingable in a 360-degree direction. Nuts 14R and 14L are fixed at the left and right ends of the upper part of the reflecting mirror 12, respectively, and a rotation shaft 15R or 15L extending in the vehicle longitudinal direction is screwed to the left and right nuts 14R and 14L. Have been combined.
As the rotating shafts 15R and 15L, output shafts of motors 16R and 16L as electromagnetic rotary actuators fixed to the vehicle body are used. Thereby, the motors 16R, 16R
By changing the rotational position of L and changing the front-back position of the nut members 14R and 14L, the direction of the optical axis of the headlight 2 is changed. FIG. 5 shows the direction of the optical axis and the motor 16.
The relationship between the operating positions of R and 16L (the operating positions of the nut members 14R and 14L in the front-rear direction) is shown together. In addition,
In FIG. 5, the normal position is a reference position for a normal low beam, and the directions of the optical axes, such as upper and lower, are directions of change from this reference position. Note that the reference position in the direction of the optical axis is generally a direction substantially straight ahead of the vehicle body, slightly below the horizontal plane in the vertical direction, and slightly toward the sidewalk in the lateral direction. In countries where traveling is obligatory, the vehicle is slightly leftward (the direction opposite to the oncoming lane).

An example of headlight control by the controller U will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG.
First, in Q (step-the same applies hereinafter) 1, the radar 4
The road shape and the pedestrian are detected based on the information from the navigation 5. In Q2, it is determined whether or not there is a pedestrian in front of the host vehicle, that is, whether or not there is a pedestrian ahead. Whether or not the person is a pedestrian is determined from the correlation between the width and the height of the detected front object, for example, as shown in FIG. If the determination in Q2 is NO, that is, if there is no pedestrian in front, the optical axis is set to the reference position in Q3.

If the determination in Q2 is YES, the position of the face of the forward pedestrian (the vertical position) is detected in Q4. That is, when a pedestrian is determined,
As shown in FIG. 9, a predetermined coefficient (0.7 in the embodiment) with respect to the total height T of the front object, that is, the front pedestrian from the road surface.
, The height position of the neck of the pedestrian ahead from the road surface is determined. That is, the position of the face of the front pedestrian is assumed to be present in a height range of 0.7T to T from the road surface. After Q4, in Q5, it is determined whether or not a forward pedestrian is present on the road. In the determination of Q5, YE
In the case of S, the driver of the host vehicle determines that the dangerous pedestrian is a dangerous forward pedestrian by prioritizing the control to prevent dazzling the forward pedestrian. The optical axis is directed toward the front pedestrian so that it can be visually recognized.

If the determination in Q5 is NO, it is determined in Q7 whether the upper limit of the irradiation of the headlight 2 is on the face of the pedestrian in front. If the determination in Q7 is NO, the process moves to Q3 (the optical axis is the reference position). If the determination in Q7 is YES, in Q8, it is determined whether the forward pedestrian is an oncoming pedestrian facing the own vehicle. Whether the vehicle is an oncoming pedestrian is determined, for example, by observing a change in the relative speed of the forward pedestrian with respect to the own vehicle when the vehicle is a forward pedestrian approaching the own vehicle. be able to. If the determination in Q8 is NO, the process proceeds to Q3 (the optical axis is the reference position). Note that Q
The determination result at step 8 indicates that when there are a plurality of pedestrians in front, YE when at least one oncoming pedestrian exists.
S.

If the determination in Q8 is YES, in Q9, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is an oncoming pedestrian present on the traveling lane side of the vehicle, that is, the legally driven side of the left and right sides (for example, a country where leftward traveling is required). Is determined on the left). When the determination in Q9 is NO, the oncoming pedestrian is on the side opposite to the legally driven side,
This is the case where the degree of dazzling from the headlight of the own vehicle is more likely to be lower than when the vehicle is on the legally running side. At this time, in Q10, the currently traveling lane is a lane marking (including both a marking lane dividing the oncoming lane and a marking lane dividing the lane traveling in the same direction).
It is determined whether or not the road exists. This Q10
Is YES when the left and right width of the road is considerably large, and it is considered that there is little possibility that the detected oncoming pedestrian will be dazzled. In this case, the process proceeds to Q3 ( The optical axis is the reference position). N in the judgment of Q10
In the case of O, there is a high possibility that the oncoming pedestrian will be dazzled. In this case, the process proceeds to Q11, and the upper limit position of the irradiation of the headlight 2 is lower than the above-mentioned face position of the oncoming pedestrian. The direction of the optical axis is controlled to be changed so as to be as high as possible within the range of (the downward change control of the optical axis).

If the determination in Q9 is YES, Q2 in FIG.
The process proceeds to 1 to determine whether or not the own vehicle is turning toward the side where the oncoming pedestrian exists (see FIG. 10, the oncoming pedestrian is indicated by a symbol P). When the determination in Q21 is YES, that is, when turning as shown in FIG.
This is a case where no oncoming pedestrian exists in the irradiation range of the headlight 2. In this case, in Q25, it is determined whether or not the road is a convex road as shown in FIG. The concave road is shown in FIG.
3 and FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 show the side profile of the road, and the side profile also includes a flat road. In FIGS. 12 and 13, the direction of the optical axis at the reference position is indicated by a chain line. If the determination in Q25 is YES, in Q27, the optical axis is changed and controlled such that the irradiation upper limit position of the headlamp 2 becomes the road surface upper limit height position that is the maximum visibility range of the vehicle 1. That is, in the case of a convex road, the state of the front road surface viewed by the driver of the vehicle 1 is as shown in FIG. 16, and the horizon position in FIG. 16 is set as the irradiation upper limit position.
FIG. 15 corresponds to FIG. 16 in the case of a flat road.
Is shown in If the determination in Q25 is NO, in Q26, the headlight 3 for high beam is automatically turned on,
The irradiation upper limit position is set to the maximum upper position that the vehicle 1 can take (the optical axis of the low beam headlamp 2 may be set to the maximum upper position so that the high beam 3 is not automatically turned on). .

If the determination in Q21 is NO, in Q22, it is determined whether or not the currently traveling road is a straight road. If the determination in Q22 is NO, in Q28, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is currently traveling on a convex road.
If the determination in Q28 is NO, the process proceeds to Q30 (Q
11). If the determination in Q28 is YES, as shown in FIG. 11, the vehicle is in a turning state in which the oncoming pedestrian P is illuminated from the headlights, and the optical axis is shifted because of the convex road. Even when facing downward, it is difficult to set the irradiation upper limit position at a position lower than the face position of the oncoming pedestrian. At this time, the process proceeds to Q29, in which the amount of light is reduced, and the glare received by the oncoming pedestrian is reduced.

If the determination in Q22 is YES, it is determined in Q23 whether or not the vehicle is currently running on a convex road.
If the determination in Q23 is NO, the process shifts to Q30 (downward control). If the determination in FIG. 23 is YES, the process shifts to Q24 (the same control as Q27).

As described above, the planar shape of the road is a straight road, a curved road in which the own vehicle 1 is positioned outside the turn with respect to the pedestrian P, and the own vehicle 1 is positioned inside the turn with respect to the pedestrian P. Three types of curved roads are set, and as the side shape,
Three types of flat road, convex road, and concave road are set. There are nine combinations of these road shapes in total, and the contents of preferred headlight control for each combination are as follows (shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 6 and 7). Content that is not included). In the following description, it is assumed that the front pedestrian is an oncoming pedestrian.

(1) Directly connected road + flat road The irradiation direction is controlled to be changed up and down so that the irradiation upper limit position is as high as possible within the range where the pedestrian's face position is lower (basically downward control). However, it is also possible to prevent the face position from being irradiated by the change control in the left-right direction). (2) Straight road + convex road Same as the case of the above (1) (basically downward control). (3) Straight road + concave road As long as the irradiation upper limit position is lower than the pedestrian's face position,
Turn the optical axis upward as much as possible (upward control from the reference position).

(4) Curved road and flat road where the vehicle 1 is located outside the turn with respect to the pedestrian P Automatic high beam selection is performed, but instead, the optical axis of the low beam headlight 2 is changed. It can also be maximally upward-vertical control of the optical axis. (5) Curved road + convex road where the own vehicle 1 is located on the outside of the turn with respect to the pedestrian P The irradiation direction is set as the maximum visibility range of the own vehicle 1 (vertical control of the optical axis). (6) Curved road + concave road where the host vehicle 1 is located outside the turn with respect to the pedestrian P Same as the case of the above (4).

(7) Curved road + flat road where the host vehicle 1 is located inside the turn with respect to the pedestrian P Same as the case (1). (8) Curved road + convex road where the host vehicle 1 is located inside the turn with respect to the pedestrian P. Control for reducing the amount of light. (9) Curved road + concave road where the host vehicle 1 is located inside the turn with respect to the pedestrian P Same as the case of the above (3).

Here. FIG. 14 shows the relationship between the magnitude of the forward distance from the host vehicle 1, the brightness of the headlights 2 (3), and the ground height. When the direction of the optical axis is set to the normal reference position, it is understood that, within a predetermined distance at which a person perceives dazzle, when the ground height is equal to or more than a predetermined value, there is an area where dazzle is perceived. . In order to eliminate the problematic region giving glare, the upper limit position of the irradiation may be lowered. It should be noted that all the above-described control of changing the direction of the optical axis may be performed only when the forward pedestrian is present in a distance range in which a predetermined amount of light or more may be emitted to the forward pedestrian. It is possible (there is no danger of giving glare to a forward pedestrian located farther than a predetermined distance because the amount of light emitted from the headlight is originally small).

Although the embodiment has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and includes, for example, the following case. In order to change the irradiation direction, while keeping the optical axis unchanged, for example, equipped with a filter that can individually cover the upper, lower, left and right positions of the headlight, Can be performed by partially cutting (or partially reducing the amount of light by the filter) with a filter at a position corresponding to the direction in which
Unlike the case of changing the optical axis, it is not possible to obtain irradiation in a direction not irradiated at the reference position).

The headlight control can be performed by limiting the type of the road shape to only the flat shape, and conversely, the headlight control can be performed by limiting the road shape to only the side shape. A prohibition switch manually operated by the driver is separately provided, and when headlight control is prohibited by the prohibition switch, execution of headlight control as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 can also be prohibited. (When prohibited, the optical axis is kept at the reference position, and the light amount is kept at the reference state.)

When a forward pedestrian is detected, the control for changing the optical axis may be executed irrespective of whether or not it is an oncoming pedestrian. The control examples shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 not only disclose the case of irradiation direction control according to a number of various states (conditions), but also control a pedestrian between any two of the various states. It can also be grasped as change control of the irradiation state. Various members such as steps or radars shown in the flowchart can be expressed by adding a name of the means to a higher-level expression of the function. In addition, the object of the present invention is not limited to what is explicitly specified, but also implicitly includes providing what is expressed as substantially preferable or advantageous. Further, the present invention can be expressed as a control method.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a vehicle to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a headlamp whose optical axis can be changed.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line X4-X4 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship between an operation state of the motor shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and an optical axis changing direction.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control example of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a control example of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of a method for performing pedestrian recognition.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of a technique for determining a pedestrian's face position.

FIG. 10 is a simplified plan view showing a case where the host vehicle is located outside the turn with respect to a pedestrian in front.

FIG. 11 is a simplified plan view showing a case where the host vehicle is positioned inside a turn with respect to a forward pedestrian.

FIG. 12 is a simplified side view showing a convex road.

FIG. 13 is a simplified side view showing a concave path.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a relationship between a forward distance from the host vehicle, brightness of a headlight, and an upper limit irradiation position of the headlight.

FIG. 15 is a diagram schematically showing a road surface state seen ahead on a flat road.

FIG. 16 is a diagram schematically showing a road surface state seen forward on a convex road.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Own vehicle 2 (2R, 2L): Low beam headlight 3 (3R, 3L): High beam headlight 4: Radar 5: Navigation 16R, 16L: Optical axis changing motor P: Forward Pedestrian (oncoming pedestrian)

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An irradiation direction changing means for changing an irradiation direction of a headlight, a front pedestrian detection means for detecting a front pedestrian existing in front of a host vehicle, and a front pedestrian detection means for detecting the front pedestrian. A headlight control device for a vehicle, comprising: irradiation direction control means for controlling the irradiation direction changing means so that the amount of light hitting the pedestrian in front of the pedestrian is reduced when a person is detected. 2. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising an oncoming pedestrian discriminating stage for discriminating that the forward pedestrian is an oncoming pedestrian facing the own vehicle. On condition that it is determined that the forward pedestrian is the oncoming pedestrian,
A headlight control device for a vehicle, wherein control by the irradiation direction control means is performed. 3. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising an existence position discriminating unit for discriminating whether the front pedestrian exists on a front sidewalk or on a front roadway. When it is determined that the forward pedestrian is present on the road, the degree of reduction in the amount of light that strikes the forward pedestrian is smaller than when it is determined that the forward pedestrian is present on the sidewalk. Characteristic vehicle headlight control device. 4. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising an oncoming pedestrian discriminating stage for discriminating that the forward pedestrian is an oncoming pedestrian facing the own vehicle. When at least one oncoming pedestrian is detected by the oncoming pedestrian detecting means when the forward pedestrian is detected, the control by the irradiation direction control means is executed, and no oncoming pedestrian is detected. A headlight control device for a vehicle, wherein the control of the irradiation direction control means is prohibited in some cases. 5. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising road shape detecting means for detecting a road shape on which the vehicle is traveling, wherein the road shape detecting means detects a road shape detected by the road shape detecting means.
A headlight control device for a vehicle, wherein the control content of the irradiation direction control means is changed. 6. The road shape detecting means according to claim 5, wherein said road shape detecting means detects the presence or absence of a lane marking, and said road shape detecting means detects that the road has a lane marking. When the front pedestrian is on the side opposite to the legally running side with respect to the own vehicle, control by the irradiation direction control means is prohibited, and the road shape detection means does not have a lane marking. Is detected, the control by the irradiation direction control means is executed regardless of whether the forward pedestrian is on the legally running side or on the opposite side to the legally running side with respect to the own vehicle. And a headlight control device for a vehicle. 7. The front pedestrian according to claim 1, wherein the irradiation direction control means controls the reduction of the amount of light impinging on the front pedestrian. A headlight control device for a vehicle, wherein the control is performed by lowering the height position of the face of the vehicle. 8. The illumination device according to claim 1, wherein the irradiation direction changing means is configured to change the direction of the optical axis of the headlight, and the plane shape of a straight road, a right turn road, a left turn road, And flat road, convex road, further comprising road shape detecting means for detecting the side shape of the road of the concave road, the irradiation direction control means, according to the combination of the planar shape and the side shape of the road currently running, A headlight control device for a vehicle, comprising: changing and controlling the direction of the optical axis so that the position of the face of the front pedestrian is not irradiated.