JP6912757B2 - Vehicle headlight controller - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle headlight control device capable of eliminating visual anxiety during a low beam.

Irradiation from the headlights (headlights) of the vehicle is performed by selecting either a high beam that distributes light upward (horizontally) or a low beam that distributes light downward.
The selection of the high beam and the low beam is made according to the conditions around the vehicle, but since the high beam secures a distant view, it is preferable to maintain the high beam as much as possible while the vehicle is traveling. For this reason, it is recommended that the high beam be constantly lit during night driving.

However, if the high beam is always used, it may be difficult to maintain the high beam because it obstructs the view of oncoming vehicles, and there is a situation in which the low beam must be selected.
In such a case, the driver's field of vision seen through the front window changes from a situation in which the distance is clearly visible to a situation in which only the vicinity of the front of the vehicle is clearly visible.

The situation where only near the front of the vehicle is clearly visible will continue unless the situation changes from low beam to high beam. In other words, during this period, the visually uneasy situation continues, which is a burden on the driver. Especially for those who are not good at driving at night, it tends to be a considerable burden.
Conventionally, as far as the lighting control of the headride is concerned, only a technique for automatically switching between a high beam and a low beam can be seen as in Patent Documents 1 and 2.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-32121 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-56594

However, even with the technique of switching between the high beam and the low beam as in Cited Documents 1 and 2, the driver's visual anxiety when traveling with the low beam cannot be wiped out.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle headlight control device capable of eliminating the visual anxiety of the driver in a situation where the low beam cannot be changed to the high beam.

Aspects of the present invention include a headlight in which either high beam irradiation or low beam irradiation is selected depending on lighting conditions, an imaging unit that captures a view in front of the vehicle corresponding to a region irradiated with the high beam, and a headlight. An image captured under the low beam when switching between the switching means for switching the irradiation of the light to the low beam, the line-of-sight detecting means for detecting the line-of-sight direction of the driver of the vehicle, the display unit arranged in the line-of-sight direction of the driver, and the low beam. Among them, the display control unit is provided so that the image of the line-of-sight area of the driver's line of sight is made to follow the movement of the driver's line of sight and displayed on the display unit with a brightness corresponding to a high beam.

According to the present invention, when it is not possible to change from the low beam to the high beam during low beam traveling, the image pickup unit acquires a view image of the high beam region in front of the vehicle under the low beam, and the display control unit further obtains a view image of the driver. Only the image of the line-of-sight area is displayed on the display unit arranged in the driver's line-of-sight direction with the brightness corresponding to the high beam. That is, the reproduced high-beam state of view continues to be displayed in the driver's line of sight.

Therefore, the driver can clearly see the distant field of view in front of the vehicle by visually recognizing the image corresponding to the high beam, so that the driver's visual anxiety in the low beam can be eliminated and the steering safety of the vehicle can be improved.

A schematic side view of a vehicle equipped with a headlight control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. A perspective view showing the front of a vehicle equipped with a camera. The block diagram which shows the structure of the headlight control device. The flowchart which shows the control which the headlight control device brings. Flow chart explaining the field of view support mode of the control The arrow view from the arrow A in FIG. 1 for explaining how the field of view of the driver's line of sight is projected onto the front window surface of the same line of sight.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on one embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 6.
FIG. 1 shows a vehicle that can run with the driving force of a power unit (not shown), FIG. 2 shows the front side of the vehicle, and FIG. 6 shows a part of the front window seen from arrow A in FIG. Is shown.
Explaining each part of the vehicle, reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1 is a vehicle body, 3 is a pair of headlights provided on both left and right sides of the front end portion of the vehicle body (only one side is shown: corresponding to the headlight of the present application), and 5 is. A front seat provided in the vehicle interior of the vehicle body 1, 7 is a rear seat, and 9 is an instrument panel provided between the front window 11 and the front seat 5 of the vehicle. Incidentally, the headlight 3 can be selected from a high beam a in which the irradiation light is irradiated upward (horizontally) and a low beam b in which the irradiation light is irradiated downward as shown by the solid line, depending on the lighting conditions like the alternate long and short dash line. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, front doors 13 (only a part thereof is shown) are provided on the left and right sides of the vehicle body 1. Reference numeral 15 in FIG. 2 indicates a door mirror provided on each front door 13.

Reference numeral 17 in FIG. 1 is a steering wheel arranged so as to protrude from the instrument panel 9, 19 is a light operating lever protruding outward from a support portion (not shown) supporting the steering wheel 17, and 21 is a front. It is a room mirror provided in the upper part of the window 11. The light operation lever 19 manually operates the direction indicator (rotates the lever back and forth) and manually operates the lighting. The manual lighting operation will be described later.

The light operation lever 19 is provided with an auto light switch 23 for switching between an auto light operation and a manual light operation. When the auto light switch 23 is turned on, it enables automatic light on and automatic switching between high beam and low beam (auto light function). Incidentally, a brightness detection unit 25 (for example, a brightness sensor) for automatically turning on the light when the brightness outside the vehicle exceeds a predetermined value is provided in the front portion of the vehicle body 1. Further, an oncoming vehicle detecting unit 27 (corresponding to an oncoming vehicle detecting means) for automatically switching between a high beam and a low beam is provided at the front end portion of the vehicle body 1. The oncoming vehicle detection unit 27 is composed of a sensor (for example, a radar device) that detects the presence or absence of an oncoming vehicle.

By the way, when the auto light switch 23 is turned off, it is possible to manually turn on the light and switch between the high beam and the low beam. When the auto light switch 23 is off, for example, the light is turned on by operating a light switch (not shown) provided at the end of the lever, and when the light operation lever 19 is manually rotated back and forth, the high / low beam manual operation switch is used. 29 works and can switch between high beam and low beam.

This vehicle is equipped with a headlight control device 31 having a function of eliminating visual anxiety of the driver in a situation where the low beam cannot be changed to the high beam.
Here, in order to explain the situation where the low beam cannot be changed to the high beam, an auto light function as an example will be described.
The auto ride function automatically connects the headlight 3, the auto light switch 23, the brightness detection unit 25, and the oncoming vehicle detection unit 27 to the ECU 33 (for example, composed of a microcomputer) as shown in FIG. It is configured by setting the switching mode and the manual switching mode. As a result, when the auto light switch 23 is turned on, the light is automatically turned on according to the preset setting information, and the mode is switched to the automatic switching mode in which the high / low beam is automatically switched. When it is turned off, the light is switched to the manual switching mode in which the light can be manually turned on and the high / low beam can be switched by using the light operation lever 19. That is, the switching means 30 is configured.

That is, the automatic switching mode instructs the light on when the brightness outside the vehicle detected by the brightness detection unit 25 becomes a brightness value equal to or less than a predetermined value. Further, for the irradiation of the headride 3, a high beam is always selected, and when an oncoming vehicle is detected by the oncoming vehicle detection unit 27, the high beam is temporarily switched to the low beam.
At this time, the driver's field of vision seen through the front window 11 changes from a situation in which the distance is clearly visible (high beam) to a situation in which only the vicinity of the front of the vehicle is clearly visible (low beam). During this time, the driver is forced into a visually uneasy situation because the situation in which only the vicinity of the front of the vehicle is clearly visible continues unless the situation can be changed from low beam to high beam (until there are no oncoming vehicles).

In order to reduce the visual anxiety of the driver as much as possible, the headlight control device 31 has a front view in a high beam state in the line-of-sight direction of the driver M seated on the front seat 5 as shown in FIG. Is used.
That is, for the display in the line-of-sight direction of the driver M, for example, an image projection device 32 (corresponding to a projection means) that projects an image on the window surface of the front window 11 is used. That is, the entire window surface of the front window 11 arranged in front of the line of sight of the driver M becomes the display surface (corresponding to the display unit). A plurality of cameras 35 (corresponding to the imaging unit) and a line-of-sight detection sensor 37 (corresponding to the line-of-sight detection means) are combined with the image projection device 32, and the driver is placed on the window surface of the front window 11 of the line-of-sight of the driver M. The field of view equivalent to the high beam of the line of sight of M is projected. In the present embodiment, a mode in which the field of view of the driver M's line of sight is projected onto the driver M's line of sight equivalent to a high beam is referred to as a field of view support mode.

The visual field support mode is activated only when required by the on / off operation of the visual field support mode switch 34. The field of view support mode switch 34 is provided on a part of the vehicle interior, for example, a part of the instrument panel 9a (shown in FIG. 6) provided on the instrument panel 9. The field of view support mode switch 34 may be used anywhere as long as it is convenient to use.

Specifically explaining the field of view support mode, the camera 35 captures each part of the front view of the vehicle. Here, for example, three cameras 35 are used, one of which is provided, for example, on the back of the rearview mirror 21, and the remaining two are provided on the mirror housings of the left and right door mirrors 15, respectively. The camera 35 provided in the rear-view mirror 21 is imaged by the field of view in the center of the front of the vehicle. The cameras 35 provided on the door mirrors 15 capture the field of view on both sides of the central field of view, that is, the field of view on both the left and right sides of the vehicle (in the vehicle width direction). That is, each camera 35 acquires images of each part of the high beam region α such as the center and both the left and right sides of the middle and upper stages, excluding the low beam region β in the lower stage of the front window 11 in FIG. As these cameras 35, a camera that can obtain a brighter image than the brightness when viewed by a human being, for example, a camera using a lens F value of 1.0 or less is used, and the center as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. , An image of a high beam region for each field of view such as both left and right sides, and more specifically, an image of a field of view having a brightness equivalent to that of a high beam is acquired.

The line-of-sight detection sensor 37 is provided, for example, on the instrument panel 9 portion in front of the driver M seated on the front seat 5, together with the image projection device 32, for example. The line-of-sight detection sensor 37 has, for example, a function of detecting the pupil of the driver M and a function of detecting the movement of the pupil (neither of them is shown). That is, the line-of-sight detection sensor 37 detects the line-of-sight direction of the driver M at any time during driving based on the position of the pupil of the driver M.

The camera 35 and the line-of-sight detection sensor 37 are connected to the ECU 33. The ECU 33 also serves as a display control unit of the present application. The ECU 33 is set with a function of projecting a field of view equivalent to a high beam of the driver M's line of sight on the window surface of the front window 11 of the driver M's line of sight. This function is a function of detecting the line-of-sight direction of the driver M by the detection information of the line-of-sight detection sensor 37 in synchronization with the switching of the auto light function to the low beam when the field of view support mode switch 34 is turned on. The function of capturing each field of view (high beam) in front, the function of switching the captured image by following the movement of the line of sight of the driver M, and the function of following the movement of the line of sight of the driver M and the image projection device 32. It consists of a function to change the projection direction. With such a function, the field of view (high beam) ahead of the driver M's line of sight is projected on each window surface region (both high beam regions α) of the front window 11 which is the line of sight of the driver M.

Furthermore, the window surface of the front window 11 corresponds to the imaging area of the cameras 35 (three units), and is virtually as shown by the two-dot chain line and the thin line frame in FIG. 6, for example. It is divided into a central region C in the vehicle width direction, a left region L in the vehicle width direction, and a right region R in the vehicle width direction. Then, by detecting the line of sight, the wind plane area of the line of sight of the driver M is selected, and as shown in FIG. It is set so that the front window 11 is projected with a brightness equivalent to a high beam only in the central region C in the vehicle width direction, the left region L in the vehicle width direction, and the window surface region R in the right side region R in the vehicle width direction. Of course, the projected image and the projected window surface change at any time according to the movement of the driver M in the line-of-sight direction.

With these functions, when the low beam is irradiated, and more specifically, when the low beam cannot be changed to the high beam provided by the auto light function, in order to compensate for this, the driver M's line-of-sight window area (display) of the driver M The front view of the vehicle in the line of sight is displayed as an image. It is also displayed as a simulated high beam image.
Further, the ECU 33 has the line of sight of the driver M even when the visibility support mode switch 34 is turned on and the low beam is manually operated so that the driver's visual anxiety when the low beam is manually operated is reduced. The field of view ahead is only on the window surface of each window surface area (central area C in the vehicle width direction, left side area L in the vehicle width direction, right side area R in the vehicle width direction) of the front window 11 that is the line of sight of the driver M. The function to project with the brightness equivalent to the high beam is set.

The flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 5 show the control of displaying such an image corresponding to the high beam on the window surface of the front window 11 during night driving, and FIG. 6 (arrow view A in FIG. 1) shows the state at this time. It is shown.
Next, the operation of the headlight control device 31 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6.
For example, while the vehicle is traveling at night, the auto light switch 23 is turned on and the visibility support mode switch 34 is turned on. As a result, the auto light function and the visibility support mode can be activated.

Then, the flowchart of FIG. 4 proceeds from step S1 through step S3 to step S5. At this time, since the brightness outside the vehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined value (running at night), the ECU 33 receives the detection of the brightness detection unit 25 and instructs the light on.
Here, since the auto light function is always set to the high beam, the headlight 3 is irradiated with the high beam from the beginning as shown in step S5.

In the following step S7, the oncoming vehicle detection unit 27 determines whether or not there is an oncoming vehicle in front of the own vehicle.
When there is an oncoming vehicle in front of the own vehicle running in the high beam state, the high beam of the own vehicle obstructs the view in front of the oncoming vehicle.
Therefore, when it is determined that there is an oncoming vehicle, it is difficult to maintain the high beam, and the headlight 3 irradiation is switched to the low beam irradiation by the auto light function.

Here, the field of view of the driver M seen through the front window 11 changes from a situation in which the distant view due to the high beam is clearly visible to a situation in which only the vicinity of the front of the vehicle is clearly visible due to the low beam. Therefore, the driver tends to be anxious due to the change in the field of vision. The situation where only the area near the front of the vehicle is clearly visible will continue unless the situation changes from low beam to high beam, so the uneasy situation will continue during this period.

If there is an oncoming vehicle, the process proceeds to step S9 in order to reduce the driver's visual anxiety factor. As a result, the visibility support mode is activated.
In the field of view support mode, first, as in step S23 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 5, the driver M (who is seated on the front seat 5) receives a detection signal from the line-of-sight detection sensor 37 in conjunction with the switching of the low beam. The line-of-sight direction (line of sight) is detected from the pupil position of the driving posture). Further, as shown in step S25, each camera 35 is turned on, and each camera 35 images each field of view in front of the vehicle (center area in front of the vehicle, left side area, right side area), which is a field of view equivalent to a high beam.

Proceeding to step S27, the ECU 33 acquires an image of the field of view corresponding to the line-of-sight direction of the driver M. Specifically, when the line of sight of the driver M is directed to the center of the vehicle, the view image of the center of the front of the vehicle captured by the camera 35 on the back of the rearview mirror 21 is acquired, and the line of sight of the driver M is directed to the left side of the vehicle. When the driver M is directed to the right side of the vehicle, the front left view image of the vehicle captured by the camera 35 of the rear-view mirror 15 on the left side is acquired. The right view image is acquired. The acquired visual field images are all images of the high beam region α under the low beam.

Proceeding to step S29, the ECU 33 corresponds to the line-of-sight destination of the driver M from the window surface areas L, C, and R of the high beam region α of the front window 11 based on the information of the line-of-sight direction from the line-of-sight detection sensor 37. Select the window area that was created. Further, the ECU 33 controls the projection direction of the image projection device 32 based on the information of the line-of-sight direction from the line-of-sight detection sensor 37, and projects the image of the line-of-sight destination on the selected window surface region (both are high beam regions α). ..

That is, when the driver M's line-of-sight direction is in the center of the front of the vehicle, the image of the line-of-sight destination is projected on the central window surface region C. When the line-of-sight direction of the driver M is on the left side in front of the vehicle, the image of the line-of-sight is projected on the window surface area L, and when the line-of-sight direction is on the right side in front of the vehicle, the image of the line-of-sight is projected on the window surface area R. NS.
Of course, if the line-of-sight direction of the driver M changes from the center to the right side as shown in FIG. When the field of view on the front right side is displayed and the line of sight of the driver M changes from the center to the left side, the field of view in the center of the front of the vehicle is displayed in the center window area C and the field of view on the left side of the vehicle is displayed. The field of view on the left side of the front of the vehicle is displayed on L.

That is, the displayed visual field image and the displayed window surface area change at any time according to the line of sight of the driver M.
As a result, the image of the high beam region α, which is the line of sight of the driver M, is displayed on the line of sight (line of sight) of the driver M with a brightness equivalent to that of the high beam (due to the lens of the camera 35). That is, the field of view of the driver M in the high beam state of the line of sight continues to be reproduced.

Therefore, the driver M can eliminate the driver's visual anxiety in the low beam by visually recognizing the distant high beam state field of view in front of the vehicle reproduced on the driver M's line of sight, and the steering safety of the vehicle can be improved. It can be improved.
This is especially effective for the auto light function, which makes it difficult to change from low beam to high beam.
Moreover, if the field of view support mode switch 34 is turned on as in steps S11 to S19 of the flowchart of FIG. 3, when the auto light switch 23 is turned off, manual operation, that is, a light switch at the end of the light operation lever (not shown) There is no problem even when the light is turned on and the high / low is switched by the rotation operation (front and back) of the light operation lever 19 (manual switching mode).

That is, even when it is difficult to change from the low beam to the high beam under the manual switching mode and the low beam is unavoidable, as in the above, at the time of the low beam, each window surface (window) of the front window 11 of the driver M's line of sight is used. Since the field of view (high beam state) of the driver M's line of sight is displayed in the surface areas L, C, R), the driver's visual anxiety is eliminated even when the high / low beam is manually switched.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and may be varied and implemented within a range that does not deviate from the gist of the present invention. For example, in one embodiment, the image corresponding to the high beam is obtained by using a camera having a bright lens F value, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the brightness of the image in the high beam region acquired by a normal camera is converted to the equivalent of the high beam. Image processing may be performed and the image projection device may project the image on the window surface of the front window. Further, by image processing in the ECU, the brightness may not be converted at all times, and the brightness of only the image to which the driver's line-of-sight direction has moved may be increased. Further, in one embodiment, an example in which a front window is used as a display is given as a display unit arranged in the direction of the driver's line of sight, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a head-up display or a visor may be used, and the driver's display unit may be used. Anything that can be displayed from the line of sight will do.

3 Headlight 11 Front window (display)
30 Switching means 33 ECU (display control unit)
35 Camera (imaging unit)
37 Line-of-sight detection sensor (line-of-sight detection means)

Claims (4)

Headlights that select either high beam irradiation or low beam irradiation depending on the lighting conditions,
An imaging unit that captures the field of view in front of the vehicle corresponding to the area irradiated with the high beam, and an imaging unit.
A switching means for switching the irradiation of the headlight to a low beam, and
A line-of-sight detection means for detecting the line-of-sight direction of the driver of the vehicle,
A display unit arranged in the driver's line-of-sight direction and
Of the images captured under the low beam when the low beam is switched, the image of the visual field of the driver's line of sight is made to follow the movement of the driver's line of sight, and the display unit has a brightness corresponding to the high beam. A vehicle headlight control device characterized by being provided with a display control unit for displaying on. The display unit is composed of projection means for projecting an image on the window surface of the front window of the vehicle.
The display control unit makes the image of the visual field of the driver's line of sight follow the movement of the driver's line of sight on the window surface of the front window of the driver's line of sight, and corresponds to the high beam. The vehicle headlight control device according to claim 1, wherein the image is projected with a brightness that is desired. Further, an oncoming vehicle detecting means for detecting an oncoming vehicle is provided.
The switching means has an automatic switching mode in which the irradiation of the headlight is always selected as the high beam, and when the oncoming vehicle is detected by the oncoming vehicle detecting means, the high beam is switched to the low beam.
When the oncoming vehicle is detected, the display control unit makes the image of the line-of-sight area of the driver's line of sight follow the movement of the driver's line of sight and displays it on the display unit with a brightness corresponding to the high beam. The vehicle headlight control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the headlight control device is used. The switching means has a manual switching mode unit in which the high beam and the low beam are manually switched.
When the display control unit is switched to the low beam by the manual switching unit, the image of the visual field of the driver's line of sight is made to follow the movement of the driver's line of sight, and the brightness corresponding to the high beam is obtained. The vehicle headlight control device according to claim 3, wherein the headlight control device is displayed on a display unit.

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