DE102009061874B3 - Method for controlling a headlamp assembly for a vehicle and headlamp assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for controlling a headlight arrangement of a vehicle (10), in which road users (11, 12) driving ahead and oncoming traffic are detected in the direction of travel in front of the vehicle (10) and the light distribution generated by the headlight arrangement is regulated in such a way that it in the direction of a detected road user (12) driving ahead, which is less than the distance to the detected road user (12) driving ahead, and whose light range in the direction of the adjacent lane depends on the detection of a further road user (11) between at least a first Lighting state with increased illumination of the adjacent lane and a second lighting state with lower illumination of the adjacent lane is switched back and forth, with switching between the two lighting states for the lighting range in the direction of the adjacent lane depending on the detection rate te is delayed by the other, in particular oncoming road users (11) and possibly as a function of temporal changes in the steering angle of the vehicle (10). The method according to the invention is characterized in that it is detected whether a multi-lane road is being traveled on, and a switch is made to the second lighting state for the adjacent lane when a multi-lane road has been detected

Description

The present invention relates to a method for controlling a headlight assembly for a vehicle and a headlight assembly for a vehicle, which includes a control device.

The headlights of a vehicle have the task of illuminating the area in the direction of travel of the vehicle, in particular the roadway, in poor visibility conditions, in particular in the dark. In addition, the headlights serve as an identification feature for other road users.

It is known to provide headlights for light emission in the direction of travel, which headlights can provide a low beam function and a high beam function. The high-beam function provides a very comprehensive illumination of the surroundings. However, it has the disadvantage that other road users, in particular the drivers of vehicles ahead and oncoming vehicles, are dazzled. With the low beam, on the other hand, a light distribution can be generated that does not dazzle other road users. However, the illumination of the surroundings is much less than with the high beam function. Due to the now very high traffic density, the high beam function can only be used very rarely. There is therefore a need to provide headlight arrangements which provide better illumination than the conventional low beam function, but which, unlike the high beam function, do not dazzle other road users.

From the DE 102 46 356 A1 a lighting device for vehicles is known, which comprises a plurality of lighting means, each of which illuminates a forward area of the vehicle. Illumination direction control means is also provided which changes the illumination range of the illumination means depending on a steering angle of the vehicle and controls the illumination directions of the illumination means either independently or collectively depending on the driving condition.

the DE 199 50 505 A1 discloses a device for controlling the light distribution of a headlight arrangement of a vehicle with a first light source for an additional light and a second light source for a driving light.

From the FR 2 923 428 A1 a method is known for automatically adjusting an overall light beam generated by a pair of headlight devices of a first motor vehicle.

the U.S. 2009/0 010 494 A1 discloses a system for automatically controlling vehicle devices, which includes a controller for generating control signals.

From the DE 10 2007 045 150 A1 a method for controlling a headlight arrangement for a vehicle is known. In this case, the headlight arrangement comprises two spaced-apart headlights, each of which emits a light beam for generating an overall light distribution. Furthermore, the headlights each have a panel arrangement, the position of which can be changed in order to change the overall light distribution. In the method, a road user is detected in the direction of the light emission of the headlight arrangement. If such a road user has been detected, the position of at least one screen arrangement is changed so that the total light distribution in the direction of the detected road user creates a central area with a smaller beam range and side areas with a larger beam range on both sides next to this central area. In this case, the headlight range in the central area, in particular in the direction of the detected road user, is regulated as a function of the vertical angle, ie the distance from the road user. The light distribution is generated exclusively by changing the position of the screens of the screen arrangement and, if necessary, by pivoting the light emission direction of the headlights about a vertical axis.

From the DE 10 2007 028 658 A1 another method for controlling a headlight arrangement for a vehicle is described. In this case, the headlight arrangement has a right and a left headlight unit, each of which includes separate headlights for a low beam and a high beam. In the method, a road user is detected in the direction of the light emission of the headlight arrangement. If such a road user has been detected, the light distribution generated by the headlights for the high beam is changed in terms of lateral illumination. The light distribution generated by the separate headlights for the low beam, however, remains unchanged.

Finally is out of the DE 10 2007 040 042 A1 describes a system for generating a light beam in front of a motor vehicle. The system consists of a headlight with an LED field, which includes several separately electrically controllable light-emitting diodes. The system also includes an object detection device for detecting objects in the area surrounding the motor vehicle and a position determination device for determining the position of a recognized object relative to the motor vehicle. With this system, the individual light-emitting diodes are controlled in such a way that an illuminance limit value is not exceeded in the area of a detected object.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a method and a headlight arrangement of the type mentioned at the outset with which an overall light distribution can be generated which illuminates the surroundings of the vehicle as well as possible without dazzling other road users.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by a method having the features of claim 1 and the headlight arrangement specified in the patent claims. Advantageous training and further education result from the dependent claims.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a method for controlling a headlight arrangement for a vehicle is provided, in which the headlight arrangement has two spaced-apart headlights and in which road users in front of the vehicle in the direction of travel are detected. Furthermore, a first overall light distribution can be generated in which the lighting range is greater on a first side of a central axis than on the other, second side of this central axis. Furthermore, a second overall light distribution can be generated, in which the overall light distribution can be regulated in such a way that in the direction of at least one detected road user, it has a lighting range that is less than the distance from the detected road user, and in another direction has a lighting range that is greater than the distance to the detected road user. The method is characterized in that when switching from the first overall light distribution to the second overall light distribution, the headlight range of at least one headlight on the first side of the central axis is reduced at least to such an extent that it is smaller than the distance to the detected road user and then the second Total light distribution is generated.

The central axis is in particular the dividing line between the lanes on a straight road. In this case, the first side of this central axis represents the right-hand lane and the second side of this central axis represents the left oncoming lane. In the case of left-hand traffic, the sides are reversed accordingly.

• Die erste Gesamtlichtverteilung ist insbesondere hinsichtlich einer Längsachse asymmetrisch, wenn man den Verlauf der Hell-Dunkel-Grenze auf der Strasse betrachtet. Auf der Seite der eigenen Fahrbahn, d.h. auf der ersten Seite der Mittelachse, wird eine größere Leuchtweite bereitgestellt als auf der Seite der Nachbarfahrbahn, welche bei einspurigen Strassen die Gegenfahrbahn darstellt. Auf der Nachbarfahrbahn reicht die Leuchtweite insbesondere nur bis zu einer Abschneidegrenze, damit entgegenkommende Verkehrsteilnehmer nicht geblendet werden. Die erste Gesamtlichtverteilung stellt z. B. insbesondere eine an sich bekannte Abblendlichtverteilung dar. Betrachtet man die Hell-Dunkel-Grenze auf einem senkrecht zur Fahrzeuglängsachse angeordneten Schirm, ergibt sich bei der Abblendlichtverteilung auf der Fahrseite ein charakteristischer Anstieg der Hell-Dunkel-Grenze um 15° zur Horizontalen. Dieser 15°-Anstieg entspricht der größeren Leuchtweite auf der Fahrseite des Fahrzeugs.

According to the invention, different overall light distributions are provided in the different aspects of the present invention. Furthermore, it is switched back and forth between these overall light distributions. The overall light distributions are defined below:

• The first overall light distribution is asymmetrical, in particular with respect to a longitudinal axis, if one considers the profile of the cut-off line on the road. On the side of the driver's own lane, ie on the first side of the central axis, a greater lighting range is provided than on the side of the neighboring lane, which represents the oncoming lane in the case of single-lane roads. On the neighboring lane, the headlight range only extends to a cut-off limit, so that oncoming road users are not dazzled. The first total light distribution is z. If you look at the light-dark boundary on a screen arranged perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, the low-beam distribution on the driving side shows a characteristic increase in the light-dark boundary by 15° to the horizontal. This 15° increase corresponds to the increased headlamp range on the driving side of the vehicle.

The second overall light distribution provided according to the invention, which is also referred to below as masked continuous high beam, is characterized in particular by a regulation of the headlight range as a function of a detected road user or multiple detected road users. In the direction of such a road user or in the direction of several such road users, ie in an area with an opening angle which is determined by the width and distance of the detected road user(s), the headlight range is less than the distance to the detected one(s). road user(s). The distance is defined in such a way that the road user cannot be dazzled by the second overall light distribution. If the road user detected is, for example, another vehicle, the distance can extend, for example, to the bumper of the other vehicle. Is the other road user a cyclist or a pedestrian? ger, the distance may be defined as extending to the point where the other road user touches the ground.

The masked permanent high beam is also characterized in that in another direction, i.e. in particular in an area to the side next to the opening angle that includes the detected road user, a lighting range is provided that is greater than the distance to the detected road user. In the second overall light distribution, in the direction of the detected road user, in particular a central area with a smaller lighting range is formed, and side areas with a larger lighting range are formed on both sides next to this central area. In this way, with the masked continuous high beam, optimal illumination of the surroundings of the vehicle in the direction of travel is provided, but road users in the direction of travel in front of the vehicle are not dazzled. If you look at the light-dark boundary of the masked permanent high beam on a vertically arranged measuring screen, a horizontal light-dark boundary is formed in front of the detected road user and a vertical light-dark boundary is formed next to the detected road user, which corresponds to the higher headlight range in the area next to the detected road user. The headlight range in the central area, which in the second overall light distribution extends in particular to the detected road user, is preferably controlled by an existing headlight range regulator.

Finally, in some aspects of the invention, a third total light distribution is provided, which is also referred to below as a sliding headlight range. With the variable headlight range, the maximum headlight range is regulated in such a way that it extends to a detected road user. In this case, the headlight range is therefore less than the distance from the detected road user, with the headlight range not being static, but instead being controlled as a function of the distance from the detected road user. In contrast to the masked permanent high beam, with the variable headlight range there is no vertical light-dark boundary in the middle of the overall light distribution.

In the context of the invention, the term headlight range is understood to mean an angle-dependent distance on the road at which the light intensity falls below a limit value. In particular, the limit value for the light intensity is defined in the same way as for the cut-off line. At distances that go beyond the headlight range, the light intensity is so low that other road users are no longer dazzled. The angle is, in particular, a horizontal angle that extends from a longitudinal axis through a headlight or a headlight arrangement on the one hand and a connecting line from a point on the cut-off line and the point of intersection of the longitudinal axis with a transverse axis, which leads through the headlight or the headlight arrangement, is formed.

According to one embodiment of the method according to the invention, the overall light distributions are generated by superimposing a first partial light distribution of the first headlight and a second partial light distribution of the second headlight. When switching from one overall light distribution to the other overall light distribution, in particular from the first overall light distribution to the second overall light distribution, the headlight range of at least the second headlight, in particular both headlights, is reduced on the first side of the central axis. Thereafter, to generate the second overall light distribution, the light emission direction of the second headlight is pivoted about a vertical pivot axis.

If the second overall light distribution, i.e. the masked permanent high beam, is generated by the light emission direction of the left headlight being pivoted outwards away from the light emission direction of the right headlight when driving on the right, so that the angle between the light emission directions of the two headlights increases, and if the left headlight on the right side of the central axis, i.e. on the side of the road, has a greater lighting range than on the left side of the central axis, i.e. on the oncoming lane, the problem arises that when the light cone of the left headlight is swiveled, another road user may be dazzled . In order to prevent this, in the method according to the invention, the greater lighting range on the first side of the central axis is initially reduced. Only then is the light emission direction pivoted outward.

The headlight range can be reduced before the masked continuous high beam is generated, for example, by the headlight arrangement generating what is known as a city light function. The city light function is characterized by the fact that a symmetrical overall light distribution with a limited headlight range is generated, with the headlight range being less than the maximum headlight range of the first overall light distribution, i.e. the low beam, for example. The second headlight can then be swiveled outwards as with a cornering light function. The second total light distribution is then generated.

Conversely, if you switch from the second overall light distribution, i.e. the masked permanent high beam, to the first overall light distribution, i.e. to the low beam, for example, a city light distribution is first generated, the second headlight and possibly also the first headlight, then pivoted about a vertical pivot axis and only then is the asymmetrical first overall light distribution generated. In this way, other road users are prevented from being dazzled even when switching back to the first overall light distribution.

Furthermore, according to the first aspect of the invention, a headlight assembly for a vehicle is provided. The headlight arrangement according to the invention has at least two spaced-apart headlights for generating an overall light distribution. Furthermore, the headlight arrangement comprises a device for detecting road users in the direction of travel in front of the vehicle and a control device which is coupled to the road user detection device and with which a first overall light distribution can be generated in which the headlight range on a first side of a central axis is greater than on the other, second side of this central axis, and a second overall light distribution can be generated, in which the overall light distribution can be regulated in such a way that in the direction of at least one detected road user, it has a lighting range that is less than the distance to the detected road user, and which in in another direction has a headlight range that is greater than the distance to the detected road user. The headlight arrangement is characterized in that the headlights can be controlled with the control device when switching from the first overall light distribution to the second overall light distribution in such a way that initially the headlight range of at least one headlight on the first side of the central axis is reduced at least to the extent that it is smaller than the distance to the detected road user and then the second total light distribution is generated.

The headlight arrangement according to the first aspect of the invention is in particular designed in such a way that it can completely or partially carry out the method according to the invention according to the first aspect of the invention.

The first aspect of the invention relates in particular to the transition from an asymmetrical light distribution, such as a low beam, to the so-called masked permanent high beam. The method according to the invention and the headlight arrangement according to the invention ensure in particular that another road user is not dazzled when switching between these two total light distributions.

According to a second aspect of the invention, a method for controlling a headlight arrangement for a vehicle is provided, in which road users in front of the vehicle in the direction of travel are detected. In the method, a third overall light distribution can be generated by the headlight arrangement, in which the light distribution can be regulated in such a way that in the direction of a detected road user, it has a lighting range that is less than the distance to the detected road user and that is greater than or equal to the lighting range in others directions is. Furthermore, a second overall light distribution can be generated, in which the overall light distribution can be regulated in such a way that in the direction of at least one detected road user, it has a lighting range that is less than the distance from the detected road user, and in another direction has a lighting range that is greater than the distance to the detected road user. The method is characterized in that while switching from one overall light distribution to another overall light distribution, the headlight range in the direction of the detected road user is controlled by pivoting the light emission direction of the headlight assembly about a horizontal axis so that the headlight range extends to the detected road user.

According to the second aspect of the invention, a headlight arrangement for a vehicle is also provided, which comprises at least two spaced headlights for generating an overall light distribution and a device for detecting road users in the direction of travel in front of the vehicle. Furthermore, the headlight arrangement comprises a control device which is coupled to the road user detection device and with which a third overall light distribution can be generated, in which the light distribution can be regulated in such a way that in the direction of a detected road user it has a lighting range that is less than the distance to the detected road users and is greater than or equal to the headlight range in other directions. Furthermore, a second overall light distribution can be generated, in which the overall light distribution can be regulated in such a way that in the direction of at least one detected road user, it has a lighting range that is less than the distance to the detected road user, and in another direction has a lighting range that is greater than the distance to the detected road user. The headlight arrangement is characterized by a headlight range control, with which during switching from one overall light distribution to another overall light distribution, the headlight range in the direction of the detected road user can be controlled by pivoting the light emission direction of the headlight assembly about a horizontal axis so that the headlight range extends to the detected road user.

The second total light distribution is, in particular, the aforementioned masked permanent high beam. The third overall light distribution is, in particular, the above-mentioned sliding lighting range. When switching between these two overall light distributions, it is ensured in particular that the headlight range continuously reaches the road user detected. The method according to the invention and the headlight arrangement according to the invention make it possible to provide permanently good illumination up to a detected road user in a simple and cost-effective manner.

The headlight range control of the headlight arrangement according to the invention has, in particular, a first actuator for pivoting the light emission direction of at least one headlight about a horizontal axis. Furthermore, the headlight arrangement can have a second actuator for pivoting the light emission direction of at least one headlight about a vertical axis. This actuator can, for example, be an actuator that is already present for a cornering light function.

According to a further embodiment of the headlight arrangement according to the invention, this comprises a screen arrangement for the headlights, which has at least two vertically and/or horizontally movable flat screens. With the second total light distribution, i.e. with the masked permanent high beam, the side areas each form a vertical light-dark boundary to the central area, which can be generated by changing the vertical position and/or the horizontal position of at least one of the two panels. In order to move the two panels vertically and horizontally, the headlight arrangement has, in particular, a third actuator which is coupled jointly to the two panels. In this way, the different total light distributions generated according to the invention can be generated by only three actuators. This means that the headlight arrangement according to the invention can be manufactured and operated at low cost.

According to a third aspect of the invention, a method for controlling a headlight arrangement for a vehicle is provided, with at least two overall light distributions being able to be generated with the headlight arrangement, it being possible to switch between the overall light distributions. According to the inventive method, the driving behavior is recorded and when changing from one overall light distribution to another overall light distribution, the time interval for the transition from one overall light distribution to the other overall light distribution is determined as a function of the driving behavior.

In this method of the third aspect, a road user in front of the vehicle in the direction of travel is detected and an overall light distribution generated by the headlight arrangement is regulated in such a way that in the direction of at least one detected road user, it has a lighting range that is less than the distance to the detected road user, and which has a headlight range in another direction that is greater than the distance to the road users detected. This overall light distribution is, in particular, the second overall light distribution mentioned above, i.e. the masked permanent high beam.

The driving behavior is determined in particular by the driving dynamics and/or the extent of the acceleration of the vehicle, in particular the magnitude of the absolute value of the acceleration of the vehicle. The time interval for the transition from one overall light distribution to another overall light distribution is shorter, the greater the driving dynamics, i.e. in particular the greater the acceleration or the absolute value of the acceleration. This configuration achieves an adaptation of the transition times to the driving dynamics, which leads to a change between the overall light distributions that is perceived as pleasant by the user.

wobei für k₁ gilt $$\mathrm{0,3}{s}^3\text{/}m\le k_1\le \mathrm{2,0}{s}^3\text{/}m$$

und für k₂ gilt: $$2s\le k_2\le 10s$$

The time interval ΔT is calculated as a function of the acceleration B in particular as follows: $$\mathrm{\Delta }T=-k_1\cdot abs\left(B\right)+k_2,$$

where k is ₁ $$0.3{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="3"\; label="s"\; filenames="DE102009061874B3\_0023.png,DE102009061874B3\_0036.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">s</figure-callout>}}^3\text{/}m\le {\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="1"\; label="k"\; filenames="DE102009061874B3\_0028.png,DE102009061874B3\_0035.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">k</figure-callout>}}_1\le 2.0{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="3"\; label="s"\; filenames="DE102009061874B3\_0023.png,DE102009061874B3\_0036.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">s</figure-callout>}}^3\text{/}m$$

and for k ₂ applies: $$2s\le {\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="2"\; label="k"\; filenames="DE102009061874B3\_0024.png,DE102009061874B3\_0028.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">k</figure-callout>}}_2\le 10s$$

und für k₂: $$4s\le k_2\le 6s$$

Preferably k is ₁ $$0.5{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="3"\; label="s"\; filenames="DE102009061874B3\_0023.png,DE102009061874B3\_0036.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">s</figure-callout>}}^3\text{/}m\le {\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="1"\; label="k"\; filenames="DE102009061874B3\_0028.png,DE102009061874B3\_0035.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">k</figure-callout>}}_1\le 0.9{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="3"\; label="s"\; filenames="DE102009061874B3\_0023.png,DE102009061874B3\_0036.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">s</figure-callout>}}^3\text{/}m$$

and for k ₂ : $$4s\le {\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="2"\; label="k"\; filenames="DE102009061874B3\_0024.png,DE102009061874B3\_0028.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">k</figure-callout>}}_2\le 6s$$

In particular, k ₁ = 0.7 s ³ /m and k ₂ = 5 s.

Furthermore, the driving behavior can be determined as a function of the driver type. When determining the type of driver, the driver can first be identified. Current and, if necessary, also historical data on the driver are then retrieved. Finally, the driver is assigned to a specific driver type.

Furthermore, it is possible for the driving behavior to be freely selectable by the user. For example, the driver can determine the desired driving behavior by making an entry before starting a journey.

According to the third aspect of the invention, a headlight arrangement for a vehicle is also provided, with at least two spaced headlights for generating an overall light distribution and a control device with which at least two overall light distributions can be generated and with which it is possible to switch between the overall light distributions. The headlight assembly also includes a detection device for detecting the driving behavior. The headlight arrangement is characterized by a timer with which the time interval for the transition from one overall light distribution to the other overall light distribution can be determined as a function of driving behavior when changing from one overall light distribution to another overall light distribution.

The two overall light distributions generated according to the third aspect of the invention can be the first and the second, the first and the third, and the second and the third aforementioned overall light distribution.

The third aspect of the invention achieves that the time interval for the transition from one overall light distribution to another overall light distribution is carried out in such a way that, depending on the driving behavior, optimal illumination of the surroundings of the vehicle is achieved.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a method for controlling a headlight arrangement of a vehicle is provided, in which road users traveling ahead and oncoming road users in the direction of travel in front of the vehicle are detected and the light distribution generated by the headlight arrangement is controlled in such a way that in the direction of a detected road user traveling ahead, a Has a lighting range that is less than the distance to the detected road user driving ahead, and whose lighting range in the direction of the neighboring lane depends on the detection of another, in particular oncoming road user, between at least a first lighting state with increased illumination of the neighboring lane and a second lighting state with increased illumination reduced illumination of the neighboring lane is switched back and forth. The method according to the invention is characterized in that switching between the two lighting states for the lighting range in the direction of the neighboring lane is delayed as a function of the detection rate of the other road users, in particular oncoming road users.

The light distribution generated by the headlight arrangement is in particular the aforementioned second total light distribution, ie the masked continuous high beam. In the two lighting states of this overall light distribution, in the method according to the invention, the lighting range of a side area next to a first detected road user is dependent on the detection adapted to another road user. If the adjustment goes so far that the light range in the side areas of the light range corresponds to the central area of the masked permanent high beam, the result is that the first luminous state of the light distribution corresponds to the masked permanent high beam and the second luminous state of the light distribution corresponds to the aforementioned third overall light distribution, i.e. the sliding one headlight range.

In particular, the delay time is greater the more frequently other road users, in particular oncoming road users, are detected. For example, with each additional road user detected, the delay time is lengthened by an extension interval and the delay time is shortened at a defined reduction rate over time. If necessary, however, a minimum value and a maximum value for the delay time can be specified, so that the delay time does not become arbitrarily long in the case of a very high traffic density. The special selection of the delay time ensures that a pleasant light image is generated for the driver, which does not appear restless due to frequent changes.

Furthermore, the extension interval can be determined as a function of the horizontal angular position in which the further, in particular oncoming road user was detected. In particular, it can be taken into account whether the road user appears on the left or right side or in the middle in front of the vehicle. Finally, the extension interval and/or the reduction rate can also be determined as a function of the vehicle speed. For example, in a speed range that is typical for country roads, the delay time when detecting oncoming road users can only be increased slowly, but decreased quickly. On the other hand, at high speeds, such as are typical on a freeway, for example, a newly detected additional road user can lead to a large increase in the delay time, with the reduction in the delay time taking place slowly as a result of the reduction rate.

The delay time is, for example, in a range from one second to 400 seconds, in particular in a range from 2 seconds to 200 seconds.

According to a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, in the light distribution, the direction of the detected road user forms a central area with a smaller beam range and, on both sides next to this central area, a first and a second side area with a larger beam range is formed if no oncoming road user has been detected. In this case, a masked continuous high beam is thus provided, in which the second side area illuminates the neighboring lane. In this case, the reduction rate is greater when the first, i.e. right side area has a greater lighting range than the middle area than when the first side area has a smaller or the same lighting range than or like the middle area. In this case, the neighboring lane is illuminated again more quickly if the other side area of the masked permanent high beam is illuminated. In this case, the illumination of the first side area is also switched on or off, in particular depending on the detection of a road user. Overall, the method according to the invention can thus be used to calm the light image to a large extent when there is a higher volume of traffic.

According to a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, the curvature of the roadway is determined and switched to the second lighting state with less illumination of the adjacent lane if the curvature exceeds a limit value. The curvature of the roadway can be determined from data determined by the vehicle's sensors, such as the change in the steering angle over time, or from the current position of the vehicle and a digital geographic map present in the navigation system, for example.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, a headlight arrangement for a vehicle is also provided, which has at least two spaced headlights for generating an overall light distribution and a device for detecting preceding and oncoming road users in the direction of travel in front of the vehicle. The headlight arrangement also includes a control device, which is coupled to the road user detection device and with which an overall light distribution can be generated, which can be regulated in such a way that in the direction of a detected road user driving ahead, it has a lighting range that is less than the distance to the detected road user driving ahead and whose lighting range in the direction of the neighboring lane is switched back and forth between at least a first lighting state with increased illumination of the neighboring lane and a second lighting state with less illumination of the neighboring lane depending on the detection of an oncoming road user. The headlight assembly is characterized in that the control device has a delay unit with which the switching between between the two lighting states for the lighting range in the direction of the neighboring lane can be delayed depending on the detection rate of oncoming road users.

The fourth aspect of the invention makes it possible in particular to avoid too frequent switching back and forth between different light distributions. As a result, the light distribution generated is calmed and the driver can be prevented from being distracted by the changes in the light distribution.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, a method for controlling a headlight arrangement of a vehicle is provided, in which road users are detected in the direction in front of the vehicle and the light distribution generated by the headlight arrangement is regulated in such a way that it has a lighting range in the direction of at least one detected road user, which is less than the distance from the detected road user and which has a lighting range in another direction which is greater than the distance from the detected road user. The method is characterized in that the headlight range in the other direction is regulated as a function of the horizontal angle between the direction of travel of the vehicle and the connecting line from the vehicle to the detected road user or another detected road user. The light distribution generated by the headlight arrangement is in particular the aforementioned second overall light distribution.

wobei Lmax die maximale Leuchtweite ist, Φ der horizontale Winkel ist, für m gilt: $$\mathrm{0,167}Gra{d}^{-1}\le m\le \mathrm{0,4}Gra{d}^{-1},$$

insbesondere $$\mathrm{0,2}Gra{d}^{-1}\le m\le \mathrm{0,3}Gra{d}^{-1}$$

und besonders bevorzugt $$m=\mathrm{0,25}Gra{d}^{-1}$$

und für n gilt: $$1\le n\le \mathrm{1,2,}$$

insbesondere $$\mathrm{1,1}\le n\le \mathrm{1,15}$$

und besonders bevorzugt $$n=\mathrm{1,125.}$$

The light range, especially in the other direction, is greater as the horizontal angle is smaller. According to one embodiment of the method according to the invention, the following applies to the headlight range L in the other direction: $$LW=L_{\text{Max}}\left(-m\mathrm{\Phi }+n\right),$$

where Lmax is the maximum headlight range, Φ is the horizontal angle, for m applies: $$0.167G\mathrm{right}a{\mathrm{i.e}}^{-1}\le m\le 0.4G\mathrm{right}a{\mathrm{i.e}}^{-1},$$

especially $$0.2G\mathrm{right}a{\mathrm{i.e}}^{-1}\le m\le 0.3G\mathrm{right}a{\mathrm{i.e}}^{-1}$$

and particularly preferred $$m=0.25G\mathrm{right}a{\mathrm{i.e}}^{-1}$$

and for n applies: $$1\le n\le \mathrm{1.2,}$$

especially $$1.1\le n\le \mathrm{1:15}$$

and particularly preferred $$n=\mathrm{1.125.}$$

In addition, it is preferably specified that up to a certain angle the lighting range corresponds to the maximum lighting range and from a certain angle the lighting range is minimal. For horizontal angles Φ _≦ Φ1, the beam range in the other direction corresponds to the maximum beam range, with Φ1 being in a range from 0° to 2°, in particular from 0.2° to 0.8°. Furthermore, for horizontal angles Φ≧Φ ₂ , the lighting range in the other direction corresponds to the minimum lighting range, Φ ₂ being in a range from 3° to 6°, in particular from 4° to 5°.

The parameters mentioned above can be used to ensure that the headlight range is not reduced too abruptly in the case of an oncoming road user or in the case of a road user who is being overtaken. This measure also contributes to calming the light image.

The headlight range in the other direction is controlled in particular as a function of the horizontal angle between the direction of travel of the vehicle and the connecting line from the vehicle to the other road user detected. In this case, the light distribution illuminates the oncoming lane, among other things.

Furthermore, the headlight range in the other direction can be regulated as a function of the horizontal angle between the direction of travel of the vehicle and the connecting line from the vehicle to the road user detected. In this case, the light distribution in the other direction illuminates the area to the right of the road user who is being overtaken when overtaking, i.e. in the case of right-hand traffic, the area to the right of the road user who is being overtaken. The headlight range in the other direction can be regulated in particular after a signal for an overtaking maneuver in the direction of the oncoming lane has been set, for example the direction indicator has been activated in the direction of the oncoming lane.

According to one embodiment of the method according to the invention, in the light distribution in the direction of at least the detected road user, a central area with a smaller lighting range and side areas with a larger lighting range are formed on both sides next to this central area, i.e. the second overall light distribution is provided. In this case, the headlight range is regulated in a side area depending on the horizontal angle between the direction of travel of the vehicle and the connecting line of the vehicle with the detected road user or the other detected road user.

A hysteresis can also be run through when controlling the headlight range as a function of the horizontal angle.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, a headlight arrangement for a vehicle with at least two spaced headlights for generating an overall light distribution and a device for detecting a road user in front of the vehicle in the direction of travel is also provided. The headlight arrangement also includes a control device which is coupled to the road user detection device and with which an overall light distribution can be generated which can be regulated in such a way that in the direction of at least one detected road user it has a lighting range that is less than the distance to the detected road user , and which has a headlight range in another direction that is greater than the distance from the detected road user. The headlight arrangement is characterized in that the headlights can be controlled with the control device in such a way that the headlight range can be regulated in the other direction depending on the horizontal angle between the direction of travel of the vehicle and the connecting line from the vehicle to the detected road user or another detected road user is.

In particular, by the method and the headlight assembly of the fifth aspect of the invention, the light distribution can be controlled when a vehicle is running in front of the own vehicle and another vehicle is oncoming, or when the own vehicle is passing another preceding vehicle. This ensures that the overall light distribution generated does not change too abruptly.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a method for controlling a headlight arrangement of a vehicle is provided, with which at least two total light distributions can be generated, it being possible to switch back and forth between the two total light distributions. In the process, road users in the direction of travel are detected in front of the vehicle. According to the invention, one of the two overall light distributions is selected as a function of the detection rate of other road users.

The method according to the sixth aspect of the invention ensures that a specific overall light distribution can be generated when the traffic density is too high, i.e. a large number of road users are detected within a time interval. The two overall light distributions are, in particular, the aforementioned second overall light distribution, i.e. the masked permanent high beam, and the third overall light distribution, i.e. the sliding headlight range. If the detection rate exceeds a certain limit, the sliding beam range is generated as the overall light distribution. This can prevent the areas of the masked permanent high beam, which have a very large lighting range, from having to be switched on and off too frequently.

According to one embodiment of the method according to the invention, the overall light distribution is also selected as a function of the position of other detected road users and/or of the vehicle speed. For example, a first increment is generated with each registered road user. The first increments generated for each detected road user are integrated and a second increment, which depends on the vehicle speed, is subtracted from the integrated increment. This generates a first output signal which characterizes one of the overall light distributions. The first increment can also depend on the vehicle speed.

According to a further refinement of the method according to the invention, the overall light distribution is selected as an alternative or in addition as a function of changes in the steering angle of the vehicle over time. In particular, a first steering angle value is generated as a function of changes in the steering angle. Furthermore, a second steering angle value is generated as a function of the vehicle speed and the steering angle. A second output signal, which characterizes one of the overall light distributions, is then generated as a function of the first and second steering angle values. A winding roadway can be detected by taking into account the changes in the steering angle over time. The use of certain overall light distributions, such as the use of the masked continuous high beam, is disadvantageous on winding roads. With the method according to the invention, an overall light distribution that is suitable for such roads can also be generated in the case of curved roadways. In this case, for example, a sliding headlight range can be generated.

According to a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, the third total light distribution is generated if the first or the second output signal characterizes this total light distribution. In addition, when switching back and forth between the two overall light distributions, a hysteresis can be run through in order to avoid switching too frequently.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, a headlight arrangement for a vehicle is also provided, with at least two spaced headlights for generating two overall light distributions, a control device with which it is possible to switch back and forth between the two overall light distributions, and a device for detecting road users in direction of travel in front of the vehicle. The headlight arrangement according to the invention is characterized in that the control device is designed in such a way that one of the two overall light distributions can be selected depending on the detection rate of other road users.

The headlight arrangement according to the invention is in particular designed in such a way that it can carry out the steps of the method of the sixth aspect of the invention in full or in part.

Possible designs and developments of the invention, which can be combined with all of the aforementioned aspects of the invention, are described below. Furthermore, the training and development described below can be combined with one another as desired.

In one embodiment of the method according to the invention, switching from one overall light distribution to another overall light distribution takes place automatically, in particular depending on the detection of a road user. Furthermore, it is also possible for the switching from one overall light distribution to another overall light distribution to be triggered by an actuation process by a user.

According to a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, the energy consumption of at least one overall light distribution can be adjusted. In particular, the second overall light distribution can be operated in an energy-saving mode as a so-called high-beam assistant, which only dims up or down between a low beam and a conventional high beam. In this energy-saving mode, energy is saved due to the reduced frequency of movement, in particular due to less frequent actuation of actuators.

In the method according to the invention, it can also be detected whether a multi-lane road is being driven on. A multi-lane road is understood here to mean that a number of lanes lying next to one another are assigned to the same driving direction. If a multi-lane road has been detected, a switch is made to a lighting state for the adjacent lane, in which this adjacent lane is illuminated with a smaller lighting range. For example, you can switch to the third overall light distribution for the variable headlight range.

According to one embodiment of the method according to the invention, a hysteresis is run through when switching back and forth between two overall light distributions. In the fourth aspect of the method according to the invention in particular, a hysteresis is run through when switching back and forth between the two lighting states for the lighting range in the direction of the approaching lane. What is achieved by this configuration is that too frequent switching back and forth between two overall light distributions is avoided. This leads to a calming of the light image.

In the method according to the invention and in the headlight arrangement according to the invention, other road users can be detected by a camera, in particular a CCD camera with downstream image processing software and/or a laser, infrared and/or radar sensor. These sensors are used to detect whether another road user is in a detection area. If this is the case, the position at which the other road user is located relative to one's own vehicle is also recorded. In this way, not only illuminated road users can be detected, but also road users who do not have their own light sources, such as pedestrians.

In all of the aforementioned aspects of the method according to the invention, the road user, if it is an illuminated vehicle, can be detected in the direction of travel in front of the vehicle, in particular by taking an image of a traffic area in the visible spectral range and extracting contiguous areas with a brightness from the image that exceeds a threshold value, the areas are classified at least depending on their size, for each area a confidence value that represents a measure of the similarity of the area of the image to a vehicle light, from the classification of the area and a physical variable that is associated with the area is formed, and finally, depending on the confidence value, it is determined whether an area is associated with a vehicle light.

The method according to the invention takes into account that bright areas of the image originating from light sources that are far away differ from bright areas originating from light sources that are close by. The bright areas of the image are classified on the basis of this distinction. However, since the classification in many cases does not allow an unambiguous assignment of an area to a vehicle light, a confidence value is then determined at least for the areas that cannot be assigned unambiguously to a vehicle light. Depending on this confidence value, it can be determined very reliably whether a region can be assigned to a vehicle light.

According to one embodiment of the method according to the invention, a classification value is obtained from properties of the area during the classification of the areas. This classification value is assigned to each area and the confidence value is formed from the classification value of the area and the physical quantity. The classification value describes how well or clearly the area of the respective class can be assigned during the classification. The classification value thus reflects a distinction within a class.

In particular, properties are determined for the classification for each area. These properties can include, for example, the brightness of the area, the shape or border of the area, and/or the color within the area. Furthermore, the properties can include values for the center of gravity, for the extent and/or the main axes of the area and additionally or alternatively for the intensity of monochrome pixels of the area. For the intensity of monochrome pixels of the area, the maximum intensity, a mean value, the standard deviation, the position of the maximum within the area, the distribution of the histogram and/or the value of the mean gradient can be taken into account. Furthermore, alternatively or additionally, these values can only be determined for pixels of a color which corresponds to the color of a rear light of a vehicle light, i. H. usually red.

Furthermore, properties can be taken into account with which color information is obtained indirectly by determining various comparisons between monochrome and red pixels, e.g. B. the ratio between the mean of the monochrome level and the mean of the red level. In this context, “monochrome” also means the gray value or the brightness in this area.

Finally, with the method according to the invention, it is possible to form an average value of the properties, taking into account a number of consecutive images.

According to one embodiment of the method according to the invention, the classification values of the regions are obtained using a learning algorithm and the classification values are then assigned to discrete weighted classification values. The confidence value is then formed from the weighted classification value of the area and the physical quantity.

According to one embodiment of the method according to the invention, the physical variable used to form the confidence value is the maximum gray value within the range, in particular the maximum gray value within the range normalized over the maximum possible gray value. When determining the confidence value in this way, it is taken into account that vehicles that are closer to one's own vehicle produce lighter areas on the image than vehicles that are further away. Accordingly, areas assigned to vehicles that are close to the subject vehicle have a higher confidence value than areas assigned to vehicles that are further away. Furthermore, a bright area that originates from a reflection of the vehicle's own light receives a low confidence value, this confidence value being reduced again if the reflection originates from an infrastructure element that is very far away.

According to a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, it is already determined on the basis of the classification whether an area can be assigned to a vehicle light or to the lights of a vehicle. The confidence value is then only formed for the areas to which a vehicle light cannot be clearly assigned based on the classification.

According to a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, the surroundings of the areas can be examined to improve the reliability of the method, it being determined whether there is another area in the vicinity of an area, so that the two areas are assigned to two headlights or rear lights of a vehicle be able. A pairing of areas is thus carried out. From this, indications of double areas can be obtained, which can be assigned in particular to the lights of motor vehicles. Based on this examination, the classification value of an area can be adjusted.

According to a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, the development of a region over time can be tracked using an image sequence. However, since tracking the areas is often difficult, the method according to the invention can also be carried out independently of such a tracking of the areas by determining the temporal coherence of the confidence values. In this case, a confidence value is changed as a function of its temporal coherence. For this purpose, in particular, an accumulation field is formed, in which the confidence value is accumulated for the pixels of the image. For example, in the accumulation field, the confidence value for a pixel can decrease by a fixed value during the transition from one image to a following image and increase by the confidence value of the corresponding pixel of the following image. In addition, in the case of the accumulation field, the area can spread out as a function of the expected movement of an object assigned to the area during the transition from one image to a following image. Finally, based on the development of the accumulation field over time, it can be determined whether a region is assigned to a vehicle light, with the confidence values of the accumulation field being subject to a hysteresis over time.

The advantage of determining the temporal coherence of the confidence values according to the invention is that the tracking of a region within an image sequence, which is difficult to implement, is not required. In this case, it is sufficient to take into account the accumulation field for only a very few frames in order to reliably assign the areas to vehicle lights, so that the assignment can take place very quickly.

According to a further embodiment of the method according to the invention, the traffic area is recorded at a horizontal opening angle of more than 40°. The advantage of using such an opening angle is that the image can not only be used to detect vehicles in the dark, but can also be used by other vehicle applications, in particular driver assistance systems. However, with such an aperture angle, it is difficult to detect distant vehicle lights. According to a further development of the method according to the invention, the image is therefore recorded with a sensor which has an area which is only sensitive in the wavelength range which corresponds to the rear light color of a vehicle, i. H. usually red, and another range that detects the brightness of the incident light, particularly in the visible spectrum. In particular, the area that detects the brightness of the incident light does not detect any light from the near infrared range.

The range that is only in the wavelength range that corresponds to the taillight color of a vehicle increases z. B. 25%.

In particular, the image is recorded by a monochrome camera.

1. 1. Verfahren zum Steuern einer Scheinwerferanordnung eines Fahrzeugs (10), bei dem
   • - vorausfahrende und entgegenkommende Verkehrsteilnehmer (11, 12) in Fahrtrichtung vor dem Fahrzeug (10) erfasst werden und
   • - die von der Scheinwerferanordnung erzeugte Lichtverteilung so geregelt wird, dass sie in Richtung eines erfassten vorausfahrenden Verkehrsteilnehmers (12) eine Leuchtweite aufweist, die geringer als der Abstand zu dem erfassten vorausfahrenden Verkehrsteilnehmer (12) ist, und deren Leuchtweite in Richtung der Nachbarfahrbahn in Abhängigkeit von dem Erfassen eines weiteren Verkehrsteilnehmers (11) zwischen zumindest einem ersten Leuchtzustand mit einer erhöhten Ausleuchtung der Nachbarfahrbahn und einem zweiten Leuchtzustand mit einer geringeren Ausleuchtung der Nachbarfahrbahn hin- und her geschaltet wird,
   dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass
   • - das Umschalten zwischen den beiden Leuchtzuständen für die Leuchtweite in Richtung der Nachbarfahrbahn in Abhängigkeit von der Erfassungsrate von den weiteren Verkehrsteilnehmern (11) verzögert wird.
2. 2. Verfahren nach Ausführungsform 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Verzögerungszeit (Tv) umso größer ist, desto häufiger weitere Verkehrsteilnehmer (11) erfasst werden.
3. 3. Verfahren nach Ausführungsform 1 oder 2, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass mit jedem erfassten weiteren Verkehrsteilnehmer (11) die Verzögerungszeit (Tv) um ein Verlängerungsintervall verlängert wird und die Verzögerungszeit (Tv) mit einer definierten zeitlichen Abbaurate verkürzt wird.
4. 4. Verfahren nach Ausführungsform 3, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass das Verlängerungsintervall in Abhängigkeit davon bestimmt wird, in welcher horizontalen Winkelposition der weitere Verkehrsteilnehmer (11) erfasst worden ist.
5. 5. Verfahren nach einer der Ausführungsformen 3 oder 4, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass das Verlängerungsintervall (Tv) und/oder die Abbaurate in Abhängigkeit von der Fahrzeuggeschwindigkeit bestimmt wird.
6. 6. Verfahren nach einer der vorhergehenden Ausführungsformen, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass erfasst wird, ob eine mehrspurige Straße befahren wird, und auf den zweiten Leuchtzustand für die benachbarte Fahrbahn geschaltet wird, wenn eine mehrspurige Straße erfasst worden ist.
7. 7. Scheinwerferanordnung für ein Fahrzeug (10) mit
   • - zumindest zwei beabstandeten Scheinwerfern (1, 2) zum Erzeugen einer Gesamtlichtverteilung (40),
   • - einer Einrichtung (15, 18) zum Erfassen vorausfahrender und entgegenkommender Verkehrsteilnehmer(11, 12) in Fahrtrichtung vor dem Fahrzeug (10) und
   • - einer Steuervorrichtung (16), welche mit der Verkehrsteilnehmer-Erfassungsvorrichtung (15, 18) gekoppelt ist und mit welcher eine Gesamtlichtverteilung (40) erzeugbar ist, die so regelbar ist, dass sie in Richtung eines erfassten vorausfahrenden Verkehrsteilnehmers (12) eine Leuchtweite aufweist, die geringer als der Abstand zu dem erfassten vorausfahrenden Verkehrsteilnehmer (12) ist, und deren Leuchtweite in Richtung der Nachbarfahrbahn in Abhängigkeit von dem Erfassen eines weiteren Verkehrsteilnehmers (11) zwischen zumindest einem ersten Leuchtzustand mit einer erhöhten Ausleuchtung der Nachbarfahrbahn und einem zweiten Leuchtzustand mit einer geringeren Ausleuchtung der Nachbarfahrbahn hin- und her schaltbar ist,
   dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass
   • - die Steuervorrichtung (16) eine Verzögerungseinheit (26) aufweist, mit welcher das Umschalten zwischen den beiden Leuchtzuständen für die Leuchtweite in Richtung der Nachbarfahrbahn in Abhängigkeit von der Erfassungsrate von weiteren Verkehrsteilnehmern (11) verzögerbar ist.
8. 8. Verfahren zum Steuern einer Scheinwerferanordnung eines Fahrzeugs (10), mit welcher zumindest zwei Gesamtlichtverteilungen (39, 40, 41) erzeugbar sind, wobei zwischen den beiden Gesamtlichtverteilungen (39, 40, 41) hin und her schaltbar ist, bei dem Verkehrsteilnehmer (11, 12) in Fahrtrichtung vor dem Fahrzeug (10) erfasst werden, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Auswahl einer der beiden Gesamtlichtverteilungen (39, 40, 41) in Abhängigkeit von der Erfassungsrate anderer Verkehrsteilnehmer (11, 12) erfolgt.
9. 9. Verfahren nach Ausführungsform 8, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Auswahl der Gesamtlichtverteilung (39, 40, 41) in Abhängigkeit von der Position anderer erfasster Verkehrsteilnehmer (11, 12) erfolgt.
10. 10. Verfahren nach Ausführungsform 8 oder 9, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Auswahl der Gesamtlichtverteilung (39, 40, 41) in Abhängigkeit von der Fahrzeuggeschwindigkeit erfolgt.
11. 11. Verfahren nach einer der Ausführungsformen 8 bis 10, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Auswahl der Gesamtlichtverteilung (39, 40, 41) in Abhängigkeit von zeitlichen Lenkwinkeländerungen des Fahrzeugs (10) erfolgt.
12. 12. Verfahren nach einer der Ausführungsformen 8 bis 11, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass
    • - bei einer Gesamtlichtverteilung (41) die Lichtverteilung so regelbar ist, dass sie in Richtung eines erfassten Verkehrsteilnehmers (11, 12) geringer als der Abstand zu dem erfassten Verkehrsteilnehmer (11, 12) ist und sie größer oder gleich der Leuchtweite in anderen Richtungen ist, und
    • - bei einer anderen Gesamtlichtverteilung (40) die Leuchtweite so regelbar ist, dass sie in Richtung eines erfassten Verkehrsteilnehmers (12) geringer als der Abstand zu dem erfassten Verkehrsteilnehmer (12) ist, und sie in einer anderen Richtung größer als der Abstand zu dem erfassten Verkehrsteilnehmer (12) ist.
13. 13. Scheinwerferanordnung für ein Fahrzeug (10), mit
    • - zumindest zwei beabstandeten Scheinwerfern (1, 2) zum Erzeugen von zumindest zwei Gesamtlichtverteilungen (39, 40, 41),
    • - einer Steuervorrichtung (16), mit welcher zwischen den beiden Gesamtlichtverteilungen (39, 40, 41) hin und her schaltbar ist und
    • - einer Einrichtung (15, 18) zum Erfassen von Verkehrsteilnehmern (11, 12) in Fahrtrichtung vor dem Fahrzeug (10),
    dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass
    • - die Steuervorrichtung (16) so ausgebildet ist, dass eine der beiden Gesamtlichtverteilungen (39, 40, 41) in Abhängigkeit von der Erfassungsrate anderer Verkehrsteilnehmer (11, 12) auswählt.

The invention also relates to the following embodiments:

1. 1. A method for controlling a headlight assembly of a vehicle (10), in which
   • - Preceding and oncoming road users (11, 12) are detected in the direction of travel in front of the vehicle (10) and
   • - The light distribution generated by the headlight arrangement is regulated in such a way that in the direction of a detected road user (12) driving ahead, it has a beam range that is less than the distance to the detected road user (12) driving ahead, and the beam range in the direction of the neighboring lane is dependent the detection of another road user (11) switches back and forth between at least a first lighting state with increased illumination of the adjacent lane and a second lighting state with lower illumination of the adjacent lane,
   characterized in that
   • - Switching between the two lighting states for the lighting range in the direction of the neighboring lane is delayed as a function of the detection rate of the other road users (11).
2. 2. The method according to embodiment 1, characterized in that the delay time (Tv) is greater, the more frequently other road users (11) are detected.
3. 3. The method according to embodiment 1 or 2, characterized in that with each additional road user (11) detected, the delay time (Tv) is extended by an extension interval and the delay time (Tv) is shortened at a defined temporal reduction rate.
4. 4. The method according to embodiment 3, characterized in that the extension interval is determined depending on the horizontal angular position in which the other road user (11) was detected.
5. 5. Method according to one of the embodiments 3 or 4, characterized in that the lengthening interval (Tv) and/or the reduction rate is determined as a function of the vehicle speed.
6. 6. The method according to one of the preceding embodiments, characterized in that it is detected whether a multi-lane road is being driven on, and a switch is made to the second lighting state for the adjacent lane when a multi-lane road has been detected.
7. 7. headlamp assembly for a vehicle (10) with
   • - at least two spaced headlights (1, 2) for generating an overall light distribution (40),
   • - A device (15, 18) for detecting preceding and oncoming road users (11, 12) in the direction of travel in front of the vehicle (10) and
   • - a control device (16), which is coupled to the road user detection device (15, 18) and with which an overall light distribution (40) can be generated, which can be regulated in such a way that it has a headlight range in the direction of a detected road user (12) driving ahead , which is less than the distance to the detected road user (12) driving ahead, and whose lighting range in the direction of the neighboring lane depending on the detection of another road user (11) between at least a first lighting state with an increased illumination direction of the neighboring lane and a second lighting state with a lower illumination of the neighboring lane can be switched back and forth,
   characterized in that
   • - The control device (16) has a delay unit (26) with which switching between the two lighting states for the lighting range in the direction of the neighboring lane can be delayed depending on the detection rate of other road users (11).
8. 8. A method for controlling a headlight arrangement of a vehicle (10), with which at least two total light distributions (39, 40, 41) can be generated, it being possible to switch back and forth between the two total light distributions (39, 40, 41), in which road users ( 11, 12) in front of the vehicle (10) in the direction of travel, characterized in that one of the two overall light distributions (39, 40, 41) is selected depending on the detection rate of other road users (11, 12).
9. 9. The method according to embodiment 8, characterized in that the overall light distribution (39, 40, 41) is selected as a function of the position of other detected road users (11, 12).
10. 10. The method according to embodiment 8 or 9, characterized in that the overall light distribution (39, 40, 41) is selected as a function of the vehicle speed.
11. 11. The method according to any one of embodiments 8 to 10, characterized in that the overall light distribution (39, 40, 41) is selected as a function of changes in the steering angle of the vehicle (10) over time.
12. 12. The method according to any one of embodiments 8 to 11, characterized in that
    • - With an overall light distribution (41), the light distribution can be regulated in such a way that in the direction of a detected road user (11, 12) it is less than the distance to the detected road user (11, 12) and it is greater than or equal to the headlight range in other directions , and
    • - With a different overall light distribution (40), the headlight range can be regulated in such a way that in the direction of a detected road user (12) it is less than the distance to the detected road user (12), and in another direction it is greater than the distance to the detected road user Road users (12) is.
13. 13 headlight assembly for a vehicle (10), with
    • - at least two spaced headlights (1, 2) for generating at least two overall light distributions (39, 40, 41),
    • - a control device (16) which can be used to switch back and forth between the two total light distributions (39, 40, 41) and
    • - A device (15, 18) for detecting road users (11, 12) in the direction of travel in front of the vehicle (10),
    characterized in that
    • - The control device (16) is designed in such a way that one of the two total light distributions (39, 40, 41) is selected depending on the detection rate of other road users (11, 12).

• 1 zeigt schematisch ein Ausführungsbeispiel eines Scheinwerfers der erfindungsgemäßen Scheinwerferanordnung,
• 2 zeigt schematisch ein Ausführungsbeispiel der erfindungsgemäßen Scheinwerferanordnung,
• 3 zeigt die Abstrahlcharakteristik der ersten Gesamtlichtverteilung auf einem Messschirm, die von einem Ausführungsbeispiel des erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens erzeugt wird,
• 4 zeigt die Abstrahlcharakteristik der ersten Gesamtlichtverteilung auf der Strasse, die von dem Ausführungsbeispiel des erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens erzeugt wird,
• 5 zeigt die Abstrahlcharakteristik der zweiten Gesamtlichtverteilung auf einem Messschirm, die von dem Ausführungsbeispiel des erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens erzeugt wird,
• 6 zeigt die Abstrahlcharakteristik der zweiten Gesamtlichtverteilung auf der Strasse, die von dem Ausführungsbeispiel des erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens erzeugt wird,
• 7 zeigt die dritte Gesamtlichtverteilung auf der Strasse, die von dem Ausführungsbeispiel des erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens erzeugt wird,
• 8 zeigt schematisch den Aufbau der Einrichtung zum Erfassen anderer Verkehrsteilnehmer,
• 9 zeigt die Verfahrensschritte zum Erfassen anderer Verkehrsteilnehmer, welche bei dem Ausführungsbeispiel des erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens ausgeführt werden,
• 10 zeigt einen Hysterese-Prozess, welcher beim Erfassen anderer Verkehrsteilnehmer durchgeführt wird,
• 11 zeigt weitere mögliche Verfahrensschritte, die beim Erfassen eines anderen Verkehrsteilnehmers bei einem Ausführungsbeispiel eines erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens durchgeführt werden,
• 12 zeigt eine Lichtverteilung bei einem bekannten Verfahren beim Umschalten von der ersten Gesamtlichtverteilung zu der zweiten Gesamtlichtverteilung,
• 13 zeigt die Lichtverteilung beim Schwenken von der ersten Gesamtlichtverteilung zu der zweiten Gesamtlichtverteilung gemäß dem Ausführungsbeispiel des erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens,
• 14 zeigt ein Beispiel der zweiten Gesamtlichtverteilung,
• 15 zeigt die Veränderung der Leuchtweite im Mittelbereich der zweiten Gesamtlichtverteilung gemäß dem Ausführungsbeispiel des erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens,
• die 16 und 17 zeigen die Veränderung der zweiten Gesamtlichtverteilung im linken Seitenbereich bei einem entgegenkommenden Fahrzeug gemäß dem Ausführungsbeispiel des erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens,
• die 18 und 19 zeigen die Veränderung des rechten Seitenbereichs der zweiten Gesamtlichtverteilung bei einem Überholvorgang gemäß dem Ausführungsbeispiel des erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens und
• 20 zeigt ein Diagramm, aus dem sich die Leuchtweite in einem Seitenbereich bei der zweiten Gesamtlichtverteilung in Abhängigkeit von dem horizontalen Winkel zu einem erfassten Verkehrsteilnehmer gemäß dem Ausführungsbeispiel des erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens ergibt.
• 21 zeigt ein Diagramm zum Veranschaulichen der Überblendzeit beim Umschalten von der ersten Gesamtlichtverteilung zu der zweiten Gesamtlichtverteilung gemäß dem Ausführungsbeispiel des erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens,
• 22 zeigt ein Flussdiagramm zur Berechnung einer Verzögerungszeit,
• 23 zeigt ein Flussdiagramm zum Erzeugen eines Umschaltvorgangs zwischen der zweiten und der dritten Gesamtlichtverteilung gemäß dem Ausführungsbeispiel des erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens,

The invention will now be explained on the basis of exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

• 1 shows schematically an embodiment of a headlight of the headlight assembly according to the invention,
• 2 shows schematically an embodiment of the headlight assembly according to the invention,
• 3 shows the emission characteristics of the first total light distribution on a measuring screen, which is generated by an embodiment of the method according to the invention,
• 4 shows the emission characteristics of the first total light distribution on the road, which is generated by the exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention,
• 5 shows the emission characteristics of the second total light distribution on a measuring screen, which is generated by the exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention,
• 6 shows the emission characteristics of the second total light distribution on the road, which is generated by the exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention,
• 7 shows the third total light distribution on the road, which is generated by the exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention,
• 8th shows schematically the structure of the device for detecting other road users,
• 9 shows the method steps for detecting other road users, which are carried out in the exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention,
• 10 shows a hysteresis process, which is carried out when detecting other road users,
• 11 shows further possible method steps that are carried out when detecting another road user in an embodiment of a method according to the invention,
• 12 shows a light distribution in a known method when switching from the first overall light distribution to the second overall light distribution,
• 13 shows the light distribution when pivoting from the first total light distribution to the second total light distribution according to the exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention,
• 14 shows an example of the second overall light distribution,
• 15 shows the change in the headlight range in the central area of the second overall light distribution according to the exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention,
• the 16 and 17 show the change in the second total light distribution in the left side area in an oncoming vehicle according to the exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention,
• the 18 and 19 show the change in the right side area of the second overall light distribution during an overtaking maneuver according to the exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention and
• 20 shows a diagram from which the headlight range results in a side area in the second overall light distribution as a function of the horizontal angle to a detected road user according to the exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention.
• 21 shows a diagram to illustrate the fade time when switching from the first overall light distribution to the second overall light distribution according to the exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention,
• 22 shows a flowchart for calculating a delay time,
• 23 shows a flow chart for generating a switching process between the second and the third overall light distribution according to the exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention,

The headlight arrangement, which is generally used in 2 as shown comprises two spaced projection headlamps 1 and 2 placed in front on the right and left sides of the vehicle in a manner known per se. One of these projection headlights 1, 2 is in 1 shown. The projection headlight 2 arranged on the other side is constructed essentially identically.

In 1 a section of the projection headlight 1 is shown in a plane which is parallel to the plane spanned by the longitudinal axis of the vehicle and the vertical V. The projection headlight 1 comprises, in a manner known per se, a light source 3 which is surrounded by a reflector 6 designed as an ellipsoid of revolution. The reflector 6 thus has two focal points. The light source 3 is located in one of the focal points of the reflector 6. The light emitted by the light source 3 is reflected by the reflector 6 in the light emission direction L of the projection headlight 1 in the direction of a projection lens 7 reflected. A diaphragm arrangement with the flat diaphragms 8 and 9 is arranged at the focal point of the projection lens 7 and close to the second focal point of the reflector 6. The normals of the flat screens 8 and 9 are aligned parallel to the light emission direction L essentially. The light source 3, the reflector 6, the lens 7 and the diaphragms 8, 9 are arranged within a housing 4 which is closed off by a lens 5. The shape of the light-dark boundary of the overall light distribution of the projection headlight 1 can be changed by moving the screens 8 and 9 in the vertical and/or horizontal direction.

The way in which different overall light distributions can be generated by moving the diaphragms 8 and 9 is, for example, in FIG DE 10 2007 045 150 A1 described, the relevant content of which is incorporated by reference into the present application.

With reference to 2 an exemplary embodiment of the headlight arrangement is described below, which comprises a headlight 1, 2 on the right and left side, as is shown in FIG 1 is shown.

The right headlight 1 of the headlight arrangement is connected to a control unit 13, the left headlight 2 to a control unit 14. The partial light distributions of the headlights 1 and 2 are controlled by means of the control units 13 and 14, which superimposed result in an overall light distribution.

The control units 13 and 14 control a headlight range adjustment for the headlights 1 and 2, in which the headlights 1 and 2 are pivotable about a horizontal axis 37 by means of the actuator 19 and 22, respectively. The light emission direction L of the headlamps can thus be changed in the direction of the arrow A ( 1 ) can be panned. Furthermore, the control units 13 and 14 control the actuators 20 and 23, respectively, with which the headlights 1 and 2 can be pivoted about a vertical axis 38. The light emission direction L of the headlight 1 or of the headlight 2 can be pivoted in the direction of the arrow B by means of the actuators 20 and 23 . The actuators 20 and 23 are, for example, part of an existing cornering light. Finally, the control units 13 and 14 control the vertical and/or horizontal position of the screens 8 and 9 of the screen assemblies for the right and left headlights 1, 2 by means of the actuators 21 and 24.

• Die erste von der Scheinwerferanordnung erzeugte Gesamtlichtverteilung 39 ist in 3 als Isolux-Diagramm auf einem Messschirm und in 4 anhand einer Hell-Dunkel-Grenze auf einer Strasse gezeigt. Die Gesamtlichtverteilung 39 ist asymmetrisch hinsichtlich einer Mittelachse 36, die bei einer geraden Fahrbahn die Fahrbahn 26 des Fahrzeugs 10, welche die Scheinwerferanordnung umfasst, von der Gegenfahrbahn 27 abgrenzt. Die Leuchtweite im Bereich der Gegenfahrbahn 27 ist sehr viel geringer als die Leuchtweite im Bereich der Fahrbahn 26 und bei Rechtsverkehr auch geringer als auf der rechten Seite neben der Fahrbahn 26. Diese Asymmetrie ist auch bei der in 3 gezeigten Lichtverteilung auf dem Messschirm erkennbar. Auf der rechten Seite der ersten Gesamtlichtverteilung 39 ergibt sich ein Anstieg 42, der einen Winkel von 15° mit der Horizontalen 35 einschließt. Der Verlauf der Hell-Dunkel-Grenze bzw. der Lichtverteilung auf dem Messschirm entspricht bei dem vorliegenden Ausführungsbeispiel den Vorgaben der derzeitigen europäischen Norm ECE-R 112 für ein Abblendlicht eines Scheinwerfers.

The following are related to the 3 - 7 different total light distributions described, which can be generated by the headlights 1 and 2 of the headlight assembly according to the invention:

• The first overall light distribution 39 generated by the headlight arrangement is in 3 as an isolux diagram on a measuring screen and in 4 shown using a light-dark boundary on a street. The overall light distribution 39 is asymmetrical with respect to a central axis 36 which, in the case of a straight road, delimits the roadway 26 of the vehicle 10, which includes the headlight arrangement, from the oncoming lane 27. The headlight range in the area of the oncoming lane 27 is much smaller than the headlight range in the area of the lane 26 and in right-hand traffic also smaller than on the right side next to the lane 26. This asymmetry is also in the in 3 shown light distribution on the measuring screen. On the right-hand side of the first overall light distribution 39 there is an increase 42 which encloses an angle of 15° with the horizontal 35 . In the present exemplary embodiment, the course of the cut-off line or the light distribution on the measuring screen corresponds to the requirements of the current European standard ECE-R 112 for a low beam of a headlight.

The second total light distribution 40 generated by the headlight arrangement according to the invention or the method according to the invention is shown as an isolux diagram on a measuring screen in 5 shown and as a light-dark boundary on the street in 6 shown. The second overall light distribution 40 is a masked continuous high beam. This overall light distribution 40 is characterized in that in the direction of a detected road user 12, i.e. in area M of the overall light distribution 40, it has a headlight range that is regulated such that it is at least less than the distance to the detected road user 12 and in particular up to to the other road user 12 is enough. If the other road user 12 is a vehicle driving in front, the headlight range in area M of the overall light distribution 40 can extend, for example, to the rear bumper of the vehicle 12 driving in front.

A side area S ₁ is formed on at least one side next to the central area M in the direction of the detected road user 12, in which the light range is greater than the light range in the area M of the Overall light distribution 40. Next to the road user 12 is thus illuminated past, in order to provide the driver of the vehicle 10 with better illumination of the traffic area in front of the vehicle 10. The headlight range in the side area S ₁ can, for example, correspond to the headlight range in a conventional high-beam function. A side region S ₂ is preferably also formed on the other side in the second total light distribution 40, which also has a larger lighting range than the lighting range in the central region M. The lighting range of the side region S ₂ can also correspond to the lighting range of a conventional high beam function, so that the Overall light distribution 40 can correspond to a conventional high beam, in which in the light distribution an area in the detected road user 12 and in the direction of travel in front of the road user 12 is cut out. In this way, the driver of the vehicle 10 can be provided with optimal illumination of the traffic space without dazzling the other road user 12 . If another road user, such as an oncoming vehicle 11, is detected in the area illuminated by the headlight arrangement, the headlight range can also be regulated in the direction of this road user 11 so that it only extends to this road user 11.

in the in 6 In the case shown, the headlight range in the side area S ₂ of the second total light distribution 40 is continuously adapted to the distance between the driver's own vehicle 10 and the oncoming vehicle 11 . Furthermore, according to another embodiment, it is possible for the width of the central area M to be selected such that all road users detected are located in the corridor between the side areas S ₁ and S ₂ , ie for example those in 6 vehicles 11 and 12 shown. In this case, too, however, the headlight range for the second side region S ₂ can be regulated as a function, in particular, of the position of an oncoming vehicle 11, as will be explained later.

As will be described later in detail, data on other road users in front of vehicle 10 in the direction of travel is continuously transmitted to control unit 16 by an image processing device 15 for controlling the headlight range in central area M and, if necessary, in lateral areas S ₁ and S ₂ . Depending on the position of other detected road users 12 or 11, control unit 16 transmits control signals to control units 13 and 14 for headlights 1 and 2. Control units 13 and 14 then control actuators 19 to 21 for right headlight 1 and the actuators 22 to 24 for the left headlight 2 so that the desired second total light distribution 40 is generated. The vertical light-dark boundary is generated on the one hand by pivoting the headlights 1 and 2 about the vertical axes 38 and on the other hand by actuating the screens 8 and 9 using the actuators 21 and 24 . The horizontal light-dark boundary in the middle area M, ie the headlight range in the middle area M, is not generated by shifting the apertures 8 and 9, but preferably exclusively by the headlight range control, ie by pivoting the headlights 1 and 2 about the horizontal Axis 37 by means of actuators 19 and 22.

The terms horizontal and vertical used in relation to the light-dark boundary refer to the light distribution on a measuring screen arranged perpendicular to the light emission direction L. In this case, a horizontal light-dark boundary is parallel to the horizontal axis 35, which is arranged 10 centimeters below the mounting height of the headlights 1 and 2 with a screen 10 meters away. A vertical light-dark boundary runs perpendicular to the horizontal axis 35.

In 7 a third overall light distribution 41 generated by the headlight arrangement according to the invention and the method according to the invention is shown as a cut-off line on a road. This third overall light distribution 41 is also referred to as a sliding headlight range. It is characterized in that the maximum headlight range of the light distribution 41 is regulated in such a way that it extends to a detected road user 12 in front of the vehicle 10 in the direction of travel. With this third overall light distribution 41, optimal illumination up to the other detected road user 12 is thus guaranteed without dazzling this road user 12. However, the side areas S ₁ and S ₂ of the masked permanent high beam are not provided. The third overall light distribution 41 is essentially symmetrical to a vertical plane running between the headlights 1 and 2 in the direction of the light emission direction L. In the third overall light distribution 41, the maximum headlight range is generated essentially over the entire opening angle, as is shown in FIG 7 is shown. However, the opening angle is selected in such a way that oncoming vehicles 11 in the oncoming lane are not dazzled when they pass vehicle 10 with the third total light distribution 41 . The maximum headlight range of the third overall light distribution 41 is regulated by means of the diaphragms 8 and 9, ie differently than the headlight range in the middle region M of the second overall light distribution 40 is regulated.

Furthermore, a device for detecting a road user in the direction of travel of the vehicle, ie usually in the direction of the light emission L of the headlights 1, 2, is provided. This detection device can be - as in 2 shown - be a camera 18 with a connected image processing unit 15, which detects the lights of preceding and oncoming vehicles 11, 12. By means of the image processing device 15, the direction of these lights can be detected both in a horizontal and in a vertical direction. The image processing unit 15 analyzes the scene captured by the front-facing camera. In this scene, the position of the lights of preceding and oncoming vehicles 11, 12 is detected. Based on the horizontal distance between two headlights or rear lights of another vehicle 11, 12, the image processing can also infer the width of the vehicle. Furthermore, light sources of other road users can be detected. Finally, light sources can be recognized, which indicate street lighting or a town. Street lighting can usually be distinguished from vehicle lights by its position in the camera image or by the intensity that is frequency-modulated with the mains. The opening angle of the camera preferably corresponds to the opening angle of the headlight arrangement.

According to another embodiment of the system, the detection device 15 is designed as a laser or radar sensor, with which the distance from objects in the direction of the light emission direction L can be measured. In particular, unlit or insufficiently lit road users, such as pedestrians and possibly also cyclists, can also be detected here. In addition, road users who are within the glare limits of a light distribution can be specifically detected via the distance measurement. Finally, a good classification of vehicles or road users can be achieved by measuring the distance, speed and direction of movement of road users, thereby avoiding incorrect control of the headlight arrangement. The vertical angle, i.e. the distance from the driver's vehicle, can be calculated from the distance of the object and used as a control variable for the headlight arrangement.

With the distance measurement using the laser or radar sensor, it is also possible to distinguish between a moving vehicle and stationary objects by measuring the speed. In addition, the width of the detected objects can be measured with a scanning laser rangefinder, so that the type of object, i.e. whether it is a road user, a motor vehicle or cyclist or a control post, can be inferred with greater certainty.

The laser or radar sensor can also be combined with a camera in order to increase the reliability of detection, in particular with regard to the detection of the vertical position of the road user. Since cameras, laser or radar sensors are being used to an increasing extent in vehicles with driver assistance systems, these sensors can also be used to control the headlight arrangement without incurring additional costs.

• Die Erfassungsvorrichtung umfasst in diesem Fall einen Sensor, der ein Bild eines Verkehrsbereichs im sichtbaren Spektralbereich aufnimmt. Der Sensor kann beispielsweise hinter der Windschutzscheibe in Fahrtrichtung auf die Straße vor dem Fahrzeug ausgerichtet sein. Bei dem Sensor handelt sich um ein monokulares Bildaufnahmesystem, mit welchem in Echtzeit Lichtquellen erfasst werden können, die sich über 600 m entfernt vor dem eigenen Fahrzeug befinden. Es können insbesondere über 600 m entfernte Scheinwerfer eines anderen Fahrzeugs und über 400 m entfernte Rücklichter eines anderen Fahrzeugs detektiert werden.

The following is related to the 8th until 11 a further possible embodiment of the device for detecting a road user according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention is described in detail:

• In this case, the detection device comprises a sensor that records an image of a traffic area in the visible spectral range. The sensor can be aligned, for example, behind the windshield in the direction of travel on the road in front of the vehicle. The sensor is a monocular image recording system with which light sources that are more than 600 m away in front of the vehicle can be detected in real time. In particular, headlights of another vehicle that are more than 600 m away and rear lights of another vehicle that are more than 400 m away can be detected.

The sensor can be integrated into the camera 18 . The can not only be used for an image recording that is used after image processing for controlling the headlights 1, 2 of the vehicle. Rather, the image recording of the sensor can also be used for other driver assistance systems such as a lane assistant and traffic sign recognition. This multiple use of the sensor lowers the cost of manufacturing the vehicle.

Vehicles are usually detected in the dark based on the light emission of their headlights or the light emission of their rear lights. In this context, it has been found that simply generating a threshold value with regard to the light intensity occurring in the recorded image does not lead to reliable vehicle detection. The light emitted by the vehicle itself, which hits various objects, that are in the traffic area in front of the vehicle is reflected back to the vehicle, which means that it is difficult to distinguish between such reflections of the vehicle's own light and other vehicles over medium and large distances. For this reason it is necessary to adapt both the sensor and the subsequent image processing of the image recorded by the sensor to this problem.

First, in order to be able to effectively distinguish between a headlight and a taillight, the sensor has a range that is only sensitive in the wavelength range that corresponds to the taillight color of a vehicle, i. H. this sensor area is only sensitive to red light. However, since color sensors compared to monochrome sensors, i. H. Sensors that measure the brightness or the gray value, the sensor also includes a range that detects the brightness in the visible spectral range. With the sensor, the sensor area for brightness occupies 75% of the pixels and the area for red light occupies 25% of the pixels. With such a sensor, images can be recorded that can also be used for other applications.

For example, the horizontal opening angle of the sensor is greater than 40°. With such an opening angle, it is difficult to detect distant rear lights. For example, a rear light with a size of 10 cm x 10 cm is imaged on less than one pixel of the sensor at a distance of more than 100 m. However, the light emitted by the rear light forms a larger cone, so that a rear light at a distance of about 400 m still hits an area of about 4 to 10 pixels. However, in order to obtain color information from the image obtained from the sensor, the presented filter arrangement with one red and three pixels without a color filter or a so-called Bayer matrix is used. The sensor contains 2 x 2 blocks with a single sector sensitive in the red spectral range and three conventional monochrome detectors, which have a higher sensitivity than color-sensitive detectors, but which also detect light in the red spectral range. With such a sensor it is possible to distinguish red light sources from white light sources, but at the same time provide high sensitivity for the pixels without a color filter. It is noted that the sensor is insensitive to the near infrared and operates at 10 bits per pixel using a logarithmic curve which essentially eliminates fully saturated spots where information is lost.

The sensor is connected to an image processing device 15 . The image processing device 15 analyzes the image recorded by the sensor in such a way that bright image areas of the recorded image can be assigned to vehicles in the traffic area of the host vehicle. The image processing takes into account that bright areas recorded by the sensor differ significantly for vehicles in the vicinity of one's own vehicle from such areas for vehicles that are far away. Corresponding differences also arise for bright areas originating from headlights and those originating from rear lights. The intensity of bright areas originating from headlights is higher and white, while bright areas originating from taillights are lower intensity and redder. Furthermore, the image processing takes into account that the device has to react faster for vehicles that are closer to one's own vehicle than for vehicles that are further away from one's own vehicle.

• Zunächst wird im Schritt 100 wie vorstehend beschrieben mittels des Sensors ein Bild des Verkehrsbereichs im sichtbaren Spektrum vor dem eigenen Fahrzeug 10 aufgenommen.

In the following, the individual units of the image processing device 15 and the steps carried out in a first embodiment of the method for detecting another road user with reference to the 8th until 10 explained:

• First, in step 100, as described above, an image of the traffic area in the visible spectrum in front of one's own vehicle 10 is recorded by means of the sensor.

In step 110, the extraction unit 31 is used to determine which contiguous areas of the image have a brightness that exceeds a specific threshold value. These image areas are extracted. In the following, it must be determined for them whether they are assigned to another vehicle or another object that is not a vehicle. Because the extraction is based on simple thresholding, it can be performed by the image processing device 15 very quickly, i. H. preferably in real time. The contiguous areas of the image that exceed the threshold in terms of brightness are also referred to as blobs.

• Im Schritt 120 werden die Bereiche von einem Klassifikator 32 klassifiziert. Ferner wird ihnen ein Klassifikationswert zugeordnet. Hierfür werden zunächst verschiedene Eigenschaften des Bereichs bestimmt. Von den Eigenschaften ist der maximale Grauwert des Bereichs und der Rotanteil des Bereichs besonders wichtig. Bei dem Verfahren werden ferner insbesondere folgende weitere potenziell nützlichen Eigenschaften des Bereichs bestimmt und bei der Klassifikation verwendet: (1) die Binärwerte des Bereichs, insbesondere die Fläche, der Schwerpunkt, die Ausdehnung, die Umrandung und/oder die Hauptachsen; (2) die Intensität bzw. der Grauwert, der nur von monochromen Bildpunkten herrührt, insbesondere das Maximum, der Mittelwert, die Standardabweichung, die Position des Maximums innerhalb des Bereichs, die Verteilung des Histogramms und/oder die Größe des mittleren Gradienten; (3) dieselben Eigenschaften nur für rote Bildpunkte und (4) Eigenschaften, aus denen man Farbinformationen durch verschiedene Vergleiche zwischen monochromen und roten Bildpunkten gewinnen kann, z. B. das Verhältnis zwischen dem Mittelwert des monochromen Levels und dem Mittelwert des roten Levels.

The following steps 120 to 140 are then carried out for each area:

• In step 120 the areas are classified by a classifier 32 . A classification value is also assigned to them. For this purpose, various properties of the area are first determined. Of the properties, the maximum gray value of the area and the red component of the area are particularly important. In the method, the following additional potentially useful properties of the area are also determined in particular and used in the classification: (1) the binary values of the area, in particular the area, the center of gravity, the extent, the border and/or the main axes; (2) the intensity or the gray value that only comes from monochrome pixels, in particular the maximum, the mean, the standard deviation, the position of the maximum within the range, the distribution of the histogram and/or the size of the mean gradient; (3) the same properties only for red pixels, and (4) properties from which one can extract color information through various comparisons between monochrome and red pixels, e.g. B. the ratio between the mean of the monochrome level and the mean of the red level.

• • C_h,s: für die Detektion von entgegenkommenden Fahrzeugen 11, die sich in mittlerer bis großer Entfernung von dem eigenen Fahrzeug befinden;
• • C_h,ns: für die Detektion entgegenkommender Fahrzeuge 11, die sich in Entfernungen in der Nähe des eigenen Fahrzeugs bis zu einer mittleren Entfernung befinden;
• • C_t,s: für die Detektion vorausfahrender Fahrzeuge 12 in mittlerer bis großer Entfernung;
• • C_t,ns: für die Detektion vorausfahrender Fahrzeuge 12, die sich in der Nähe des eigenen Fahrzeugs bis zu einer mittleren Entfernung befinden.

Since it is normally not possible to reliably conclude that a vehicle is the light source on the basis of an individual property or the properties described above, the properties of the areas are subjected to a learning algorithm. Finally, a classification with classification values for the areas and finally with discrete weighted classification values for the areas is obtained by means of the learning algorithm. The Real AdaBoost algorithm is used as the learning algorithm, as described in R. Schapire and Y. Singer, "Improved boosting using confidence-rated predictions" in Machine Learning, Vol. 37, No. 3, pages 297-336, 1999. is described. This learning algorithm takes into account obvious differences in the characteristics of vehicle lights in order to pre-divide the different areas: small and non-small areas look different, also areas originating from headlights differ from those originating from taillights. According to this approach, the areas were divided into four basic classes:

• • C _h,s : for the detection of oncoming vehicles 11 that are at a medium to large distance from the host vehicle;
• • _Ch,ns : for the detection of oncoming vehicles 11 located at distances close to the own vehicle up to an intermediate distance;
• • C _t,s : for the detection of preceding vehicles 12 at a medium to large distance;
• • C _t,ns : for the detection of preceding vehicles 12 which are in the vicinity of the host vehicle up to a medium distance.

According to the principle that it is better to create an incorrect association with a vehicle than to miss a correct association, after the division of the areas into the classes, the maximum value of the four output signals of the learning algorithm is taken.

In step 130, based on this basic classification, a first decision can be made as to whether an area should be assigned to a vehicle or not. If such a rough assignment is possible, the method continues with step 140 . If such a rough assignment is not possible, the method continues with step 150, which will be explained later.

Even if the rough assignment to a vehicle is possible in step 130, it has been found that this rough assignment does not lead to a one hundred percent detection of vehicles. In addition, it cannot be ruled out that an intrinsic light reflection or the light emission of another object is mistaken for a vehicle light.

In the method according to the invention, a confidence value is therefore determined in step 140 using a confidence unit 33 for each area, which represents a measure of the similarity of the area of the image to a vehicle light. This confidence value can be calculated from a previously determined classification value of the area and a physical quantity associated with the area. However, discrete, weighted classification values for the areas are preferably obtained from the classification values by means of the learning algorithm.

wobei t+, t₀ und t- Schwellwerte sind, die für jede Klasse gesetzt sind, und ω₊, ω₀ und ω-entsprechende Gewichtungen sind, die für jede Klasse definiert sind. Oberhalb t+ ist man sicher, dass ein Bereich einem Fahrzeug zugeordnet werden kann, und unterhalb t_- ist man sicher, dass dieser Bereich keinem Fahrzeug zugeordnet werden kann. Der Bereich von t_- bis t₊ wird als nicht sicherer Ausgang der Klassifikation gewertet, wobei von t_- bis t₀ angenommen wird, dass der Bereich einer Lichtquelle, die nicht von einem anderen Fahrzeug herrührt, ähnlicher ist, wohingegen im Bereich von t₀ bis t_- angenommen wird, dass die Bereiche ähnlicher einem Fahrzeuglicht sind. Die folgende Tabelle zeigt ein Beispiel für die verwendeten Schwellwerte: Um keine falsch klassifizierten Bereiche zu erhalten Scheinwerferklassifikation Rücklichtklassifikation klein nicht klein klein nicht klein (t, ω)₊ (1, 1) (1, 1'5) (1, 0'5) (1,1) (t, ω)₀ (0, 0'5) (0, 1) (0, 0'25) (0, 0'25) (t, ω)_- (-2, 0) (-2, 0) (-2, 0) (-2, 0) richtig klassifiziert (Fahrzeuge/ keine Fahrzeuge) 78 % / 75 % 97 % / 97 % 60 % / 65 % 94 % / 93 % keine sichere Entscheidung (Fahrzeuge/ keine Fahrzeuge) 22 % / 25 % 3 % / 3 % 40 % / 35 % 6 % / 7 % The classification value results from the Real AdaBoost algorithm described above using examples of areas originating from vehicle light sources and corresponding counter-examples. A classification value c results, with positive classification values indicating that an area is similar to a vehicle light and negative classification values indicating the opposite. The classification values c are now discretized into corresponding weighted classification values, where the weights are assigned as follows: $$\omega =\{\begin{array}{llll}{\omega }_{+}\hfill & \text{if}\hfill & c\ge t_{+}\hfill & \text{is applicable}\hfill \\ {\omega }_0\hfill & \text{if}\hfill & t_0\le c<t_{+}\hfill & \text{is applicable}\hfill \\ {\omega }_{-}\hfill & \text{if}\hfill & t_{-}\le c<t_0\hfill & \text{is applicable}\hfill \\ 0\hfill & \text{if}\hfill & c<t_{-}\hfill & \text{is applicable}\hfill \end{array},$$

where t+, t ₀ and t- are threshold values set for each class and ω ₊ , ω ₀ and ω- are corresponding weights defined for each class. Above t+ one is certain that an area can be assigned to a vehicle _, and below t- one is certain that this area cannot be assigned to a vehicle. The range from t _- to t ₊ is evaluated as an uncertain outcome of the classification, from t _- to t ₀ it is assumed that the range is more similar to a light source that does not come from another vehicle, whereas in the range from t ₀ to t _- the areas are assumed to be more similar to a vehicle light. The following table shows an example of the threshold values used: In order not to get misclassified areas headlight classification rear light classification small not small small not small (t,ω) ₊ (1, 1) (1, 1'5) (1, 0'5) (1.1) (t,ω) ₀ (0, 0'5) (0, 1) (0, 0'25) (0, 0'25) (t,ω) _- (-2, 0) (-2, 0) (-2, 0) (-2, 0) correctly classified (vehicles/ no vehicles) 78% / 75% 97% / 97% 60% / 65% 94% / 93% no safe decision (vehicles/ no vehicles) 22% / 25% 3% / 3% 40% / 35% 6% / 7%

It turns out that with these threshold values for the above equation, no regions are misclassified. Also, for non-small areas, the correct classification is over 90%.

wobei ω der dem Bereich zugeordnete gewichteten Klassifikationswerte ist. Der Konfidenzwert ergibt sich somit aus der Sicherheit bei der Klassifikation mal der Sicherheit einer physikalischen Größe, die im vorliegenden Fall der maximale Grauwert des Bereichs, insbesondere der maximale Grauwert eines gegebenen Bereichs normalisiert über den maximal möglichen Grauwert, ist. Der maximale Grauwert beeinflusst somit sowohl den gewichteten Klassifikationswert als auch die physikalische Größe. Jedoch werden bei der Gewinnung der gewichteten Klassifikationswerte mittels eines Algorithmus' erlernte Schwellwerte mittels verschiedener Eigenschaften des Grauwerts verwendet, wohingegen der Grauwert bei der Berechnung der physikalischen Größe direkt verwendet wird.A confidence value v is now calculated for each area from the weighted classification values. Assuming that g is the maximum gray value of a given area normalized over the maximum possible gray value for an area, the confidence value is defined as follows: $$v=\omega \times G,$$

where ω is the weighted classification value associated with the region. The confidence value thus results from the certainty in the classification times the certainty of a physical quantity, which in the present case is the maximum gray value of the area, in particular the maximum gray value of a given area normalized over the maximum possible gray value. The maximum gray value thus influences both the weighted classification value and the physical quantity. However, threshold values learned by means of various properties of the gray value are used in obtaining the weighted classification values by means of an algorithm, whereas the gray value is used directly in the calculation of the physical quantity.

The calculation of the confidence value given above takes into account that vehicles which are closer to one's own vehicle will produce brighter areas in the image recorded by the sensor than vehicles which are further away. Consequently, areas classified as belonging to a vehicle, namely a vehicle close to the own vehicle, will have a higher confidence value. If a vehicle is farther away, the associated area of the sensor's image will have a high confidence value, but less than the area associated with a closer vehicle. A bright area resulting from a reflection will not have as high a confidence value if classified correctly, and this confidence value will be even lower for areas resulting from reflections coming from distant objects.

If in step 130 it was found that the basic classification for a vehicle cannot be established, in step 150 additional information is used for the classification. In particular, the surroundings of the area can be examined. This investigation can determine whether there is another area in the vicinity of an area, so that the two areas can be assigned to two headlights or taillights of another vehicle. For example, can for the areas for which the basic classification in step 120 resulted in the fact that t−≦c≦t ₊ applies _, in particular such an environmental investigation can be carried out. If there is a pair of lights when examining the surroundings, this is an indication of a twin region, which originates from the right and left headlights or the right and left taillights of a vehicle. Of course, this investigation only leads to a positive result for vehicles with two headlights or rear lights, but not for motorcycles or the like.

For each area, when examining the environment, a window of a size proportional to the border of the area is placed on the left and right side of the area. Within each window on the left and on the right, other areas that have a center of gravity within one of the windows are searched for. When such a possible twin region has been found, some of the properties described above are compared to each other. Each comparison involves the calculation of a ratio, e.g. B. the ratio of the maximum gray values of the two areas. These ratios form a set of properties that can be linked to other properties such as the centroid distance, the absolute value of the maximum gray value, and so on. These values form a property set used for the Real AdaBoost classification algorithm described above. The new classification result of the learning algorithm is used to modify the weighted classification value ω obtained during the classification described above. The following rule is used: If the pairing classification results in a negative value (no twin regions), the weighted classification value ω is not modified, otherwise this weighted classification value is increased, ie ω _- becomes ω ₀ or ω ₀ becomes ω ₊ . These weighted classification values are then used as a basis for the further method steps.

After the confidence values for the regions have been determined in step 140, in step 160 the temporal coherence of the confidence values is determined. A temporal coherence analysis is carried out for this purpose. It is pointed out that the confidence values for the subsequent temporal coherence analysis can also be obtained in a manner other than that described above. On the other hand, the temporal coherence analysis can also be omitted if the weighted confidence values have been determined as described above.

One possibility for a coherence analysis is based on goal tracking, i. H. the temporal change of the areas in the image recorded by the sensor is tracked. Such target tracking is optionally carried out in the second exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention. However, it is difficult to implement and not error-free. In the present first exemplary embodiment, a coherence analysis is therefore carried out which does not require target tracking.

1. 1. Die Werte des Akkumulationsfeldes A reichen von 0 bis zu einem gegebenen Wert M_A, beginnend bei A = 0.
2. 2. Wenn ein neues Bild k gewonnen wurde:
   1. (a) Verringern von A. Es wird ein Verfall der Akkumulation durch den Rechenschritt A = max(0,A - d) durchgeführt, wobei d eine feste Zahl ist, die den Verfallsanteil bestimmt: Beginnt man bei M_A, benötigt man M_A/d Schritte, um 0 zu erhalten. Dabei kann d bei verschiedenen Zellen von dem Akkumulationsfeld A und durch ein Hystereseverfahren verschiedene Werte aus zwei Möglichkeiten annehmen.
   2. (b) Ausbreiten von A. Die Werte jeder Zelle werden entsprechend der erwarteten Bewegung der Ziele ausgebreitet, um Konfidenzwerte, die von demselben Ziel herrühren, von Bild zu Bild zu kombinieren.
   3. (c) Erhöhen von A. Nimmt man an, dass A_i ^(k) ein Koordinatensatz ist, der den Bereich i bildet, der bei dem gegenwärtigen Bild k detektiert wurde, und v_i ^(k) der entsprechende Konfidenzwert ist, wird folgende Erneuerungsformel verwendet: A_Ai ^(k) = min(A^(k-1) _Ai + v_i ^(k), M_A), wobei A_Ai für die Zelle von A steht, deren Koordinaten A_i entsprechen.

In the temporal coherence analysis of this embodiment, an accumulation field A is formed to determine whether the associated confidence values are temporally coherent. The accumulation field A has the same dimensions as the original image. When renewing the accumulation field, the following steps are performed:

1. 1. The values of the accumulation field A range from 0 to a given value M _A , starting at A = 0.
2. 2. When a new image k has been acquired:
   1. (a) Decreasing A. A decay of the accumulation is performed by the calculation step A = max(0,A - d), where d is a fixed number that determines the decay fraction: Starting at _MA , one needs _MA /d Steps to get 0. In this case, d can assume different values from two possibilities in the case of different cells from the accumulation field A and by means of a hysteresis method.
   2. (b) Spreading A. The values of each cell are spread according to the expected movement of the targets to combine confidence values originating from the same target from frame to frame.
   3. (c) Increase A. Assuming that A _i ^(k) is a set of coordinates forming the area i detected at the current image k and v _i ^(k) is the corresponding confidence value, the following renewal formula becomes uses: A _Ai ^(k) = min(A ^(k-1) _Ai + v _i ^(k) , M _A ), where A _Ai stands for the cell of A whose coordinates correspond to A _i .

In the propagation step, a kind of dilatation is performed, which is similar to the mathematical morphology of the gray values, but whose structuring element is different for different accumulation cells. The difference stems from the expected movement for the different targets in image space: targets near the horizon remain relatively static from image to image, whereas the posi tion of closer targets varied more. Furthermore, oncoming vehicles move faster toward the bottom of the image, whereas vehicles ahead do not exhibit such behavior. Therefore, the accumulation field is used in particular for areas more similar to those originating from headlights than those originating from taillights, and a different field for the remaining areas. This other field is chosen according to the classification if it had a higher outcome during the base classification.

• • Falls die Zelle A_i,j null ist, wird der entsprechende Wert des Zustandsfeldes S_i,j auf den Wert FALSCH gesetzt. Der nächste Verfallsanteil für A_i,j ist d = d_f, wobei d_f eine feste Zahl ist;
• • falls A_i,j ≥ M_A/2 ist, wird S_i,j auf den Wert WAHR gesetzt und d = d_t, wobei d_t ein fester Wert ist;
• • falls 0 < A_i,j < M_A/2 gilt, wird S_i,j nicht verändert und es ergibt sich auch kein zugeordneter Verfall von A_i,j.

The areas for image k are finally classified as vehicle lights or no vehicle lights according to a hysteresis criterion related to the corresponding positions of the accumulation field. This means that each accumulation field has an associated state field S of the same dimension. The hysteresis is then, as in 10 shown performed as follows:

• • If the cell A _i,j is null, the corresponding value of the state field Si _,j is set to the value FALSE. The next decay fraction for A _i,j is d = d _f , where d _f is a fixed number;
• • if A _i,j ≥ M _A /2, then S _i,j is set to TRUE and d = d _t , where d _t is a fixed value;
• • if 0 < A _i,j < M _A /2, S _i,j is not changed and there is also no associated decay of A _i,j .

Thus, for a given area i with A _i ^(k) at image k, the logical operation OR is performed on S _Ai ^(k) to definitively assign the areas to a vehicle or no vehicle.

During the temporal coherence analysis, the maximum value for the hysteresis criterion is set to _MA = 2, so that the hysteresis associated with a cell of the accumulation field assumes the TRUE state above _MA /2 = 1 and does not reach the FALSE state before returning to zero is achieved, as in 10 shown. The values chosen for the decay control are: (d _t , d _f ) = (45, 15) frames, which means that when a vehicle disappears, the system continues to illuminate the new clear area for about two seconds. The same values are chosen for the accumulation field of the headlight-like areas and for the taillight-like areas.

As explained, an accumulation field is thus formed to determine the temporal coherence, in which the confidence value is accumulated for the pixels of the image. When there is a transition from one image to the following image, the confidence value for a pixel is reduced by a fixed value and increased by the confidence value of the corresponding pixel in the following image. During the transition from one image to a following image, the area will spread out depending on the movement to be expected of an object assigned to the area. The final decision as to whether an area is assigned to a vehicle light is determined on the basis of the temporal development of the accumulation field, with the confidence values of the accumulation field being subject to a temporal hysteresis. This final assignment is made in step 170 by the assignment unit 34 .

• Wie bei der ersten Ausgestaltung wird ein Sensor zum Aufnehmen eines Bildes eines Verkehrsbereichs im sichtbaren Spektrum und eine Bildverarbeitungsvorrichtung 15 verwendet. Die Detektion der Verkehrsteilnehmer, z.B. der Fahrzeuge erfolgt an Hand der Fahrzeuglichter, d. h. für entgegenkommende Fahrzeuge 11 an Hand der Lichtemission der vorderen Scheinwerfer, und für vorausfahrende Fahrzeuge 12 an Hand der Lichtemission der Rücklichter.

The following is based on 11 a second embodiment of the procedural steps for detecting other road users is described:

• As in the first embodiment, a sensor for picking up an image of a traffic area in the visible spectrum and an image processing device 15 are used. The detection of road users, for example vehicles, is based on the vehicle lights, ie for oncoming vehicles 11 based on the light emission of the front headlights, and for vehicles 12 driving ahead based on the light emission of the rear lights.

• Im Schritt 200 wird für jeden Bereich eine Umgebungsanalyse des Bereichs durchgeführt. Diese Umgebungsanalyse kann beispielsweise die in der ersten Ausgestaltung beschriebene Paarbildung auf Grund von Zwillingsbereichen umfassen, bei der zwei helle Bereiche einem Scheinwerferpaar oder einem Rücklichtpaar jeweils eines Fahrzeugs zugeordnet wird. Das Ergebnis der Umgebungsanalyse im Schritt 200 wird im Schritt 240 weiterverarbeitet.

In step 180, as in step 100 of the first embodiment, an image of the traffic area in front of the host vehicle 10 is recorded. In step 190, as in step 110 of the method of the first embodiment, contiguous areas are extracted with a brightness that exceeds a threshold value. Thus, in the image generated by the sensor, a search is made for contiguous bright pixels that exceed a specified intensity and possibly also a specified size. Such image areas can belong to light sources of another vehicle, but also to other light sources or reflections of the light emission of the own vehicle. The result of step 190 is a binary image in which connected areas with bright pixels are defined by a border. Furthermore, as in the first embodiment, properties such as, in particular, size, brightness, color etc. are determined for the areas. If the analysis of a single image shows that an area can be assigned to a vehicle light with a high degree of probability, the method can continue directly with step 250 for these areas. Furthermore, the areas Based on the properties of the areas in step 240 are classified. Finally, further information can be obtained about the areas, as described below:

• In step 200, an environmental analysis of the area is performed for each area. This environment analysis can include, for example, the pairing described in the first embodiment on the basis of twin areas, in which two bright areas are assigned to a pair of headlights or a pair of rear lights of a vehicle. The result of the environment analysis in step 200 is further processed in step 240 .

Another optional processing step involves tracking one or more regions in an image sequence and determining the movement of the region or regions. In order to make it easier to find an area again within the image sequence, a global motion estimation is carried out for this in step 230 . The movement of the vehicle 10 itself is calculated and taken into account accordingly when tracking the areas. The global movement can be determined in step 230 based on the correlation of the movement of several objects in the image. It can also be based on values obtained from in-vehicle odometry or other in-vehicle sensors, e.g. B. acceleration sensors are made available to be determined. A combination of both approaches is also possible. For this purpose, the image processing device 15 can be coupled to the vehicle bus 17 via the control unit 16 , for example. In step 220, the movement of the individual areas in the image sequence is determined, taking into account the global movement of the vehicle determined in step 230.

Furthermore, if the areas are tracked with the image processing device 15 over several images, it is possible in step 210 to stabilize over several images the internal properties of the areas, which may vary somewhat from image to image. For this purpose, the properties of the regions are time-averaged in step 210 over a number of images. This method step is particularly advantageous for determining the color of a very small area: In a small image area, the light only hits very few pixels of the sensor. In a color image sensor, the individual pixels are only sensitive to one color, usually red, green or blue. A color determination is only possible when the area encounters enough pixels of all color components. If the size of the area is not sufficient for this, in step 210 the pixels of the area can be used, which were determined for a number of consecutive images.

The data obtained in steps 190, 200, 210 and/or 220 are further processed in step 240. As described in the first embodiment, the areas are classified depending on their size and the other properties obtained in the previous steps, and a confidence value, in particular the weighted confidence value, is determined for the areas as described above. The higher the confidence value, the higher the probability that the area is a vehicle light, i. H. the headlight of an oncoming vehicle 11 or the rear light of a preceding vehicle 12.

If the observation of an area in an image is not sufficient to carry out an unambiguous classification, the confidence value for each area is accumulated in step 260 over a number of images. The movement of each area determined in step 220 is taken into account here. If an area can be tracked over several images, a new confidence value is determined by accumulating or decreasing the confidence values of the area in several consecutive images.

Parallel to this or as an alternative to this, the confidence value for each pixel can be accumulated or reduced. This does not require tracking of the areas. In step 250, the image areas, ie the pixels within the border of a specific area that has been determined using the above steps, are provided with the confidence value of this area. A specific value, as explained in the first embodiment, is automatically subtracted from the confidence value of the area in a following image, so that the confidence value in areas in which there are no longer bright areas in the following images falls to zero over time. At the same time, the accumulated confidence of the area below is added to the confidence value of an area for each subsequent image. This results in a new confidence value, which not only contains the current confidence of the area, but also contains the confidences of recently preceding areas in this image area via a two-dimensional accumulation. Additionally, at step 250, this two-dimensional confidence field of a region may be increased in the decay from frame to frame. The direction of propagation when this confidence field is enlarged can be adapted to the expected object movement or the expected movement of one's own vehicle 10 . It can thus be ensured that, despite the movement of an area, the area is still on confidence values generated by the same area in the previous image.

Finally, if the classification generated in step 240 results in a confidence value that allows a clear decision for an area as to whether it can be assigned to a vehicle light or not, the result of step 240 can also be further processed directly. The confidence values thus determined in steps 240, 250 and 260 are combined in step 270 and a final decision is made as to whether an area is a relevant object, i. i.e. whether or not the brightness in this area is due to a light source from another vehicle.

Finally, in step 280, areas that can be assigned to other vehicles 11, 12 are output with the corresponding coordinates relative to one's own vehicle 10. In particular, the angular positions of the detected preceding or oncoming vehicles 11, 12 relative to one's own vehicle 10 result from these coordinates.

It is pointed out that depending on the result of step 190, steps 200, 210 and 220 can be omitted altogether or only one or individual of these steps is or are performed. Furthermore, steps 250 and 260 may be performed in parallel or alternatively. Finally, depending on the outcome of step 240, they may be omitted altogether.

Finally, the hysteresis explained with reference to the first embodiment can be used. If a confidence value is exceeded, the area is classified as an object of interest. If it falls below a lower value, the area is no longer classified as a relevant object. The accumulation of the confidence values in the processing steps 250 or 260 or the accumulation in the processing step 210 is cut off at a set maximum value. In this way, it can be ensured that the lower hysteresis threshold is not reached again within a sufficient period of time.

The camera 18 , which includes the sensor described above, and the image processing device 15 are thus used to detect whether another road user, in particular a lighted road user, is located in front of the host vehicle 10 in the direction of travel. Furthermore, the position of such a road user is determined relative to one's own vehicle. The data on a detected other road user are transmitted from the image processing device 15 to the control device 16 .

The control unit 16 is also connected to a vehicle bus 17 via which further data recorded in the vehicle can be transmitted to the control unit 16 . For example, geographical data can be transmitted from a navigation system 28 to the control device 16 via the vehicle bus 17 . The navigation system 28 can determine the current position of the vehicle 10 by means of a reception sensor, which can be embodied as a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 29 , for example.

The headlight arrangement can also include a device 25 for detecting the driving behavior of the vehicle 10 . The device 25 can, for example, be coupled to an internal clock and a speedometer of the vehicle via the vehicle bus 17 and can determine the acceleration of the vehicle 10 on the basis of the transmitted speed using the time signal of the internal clock. Device 25 can determine driving dynamics via the temporal development of the magnitude of the acceleration or the magnitude of the absolute value of the acceleration and assign it to a specific class for the driving behavior. Furthermore, an input signal, for example from the driver, can be transmitted to the device 25, by means of which the driving behavior is specified. Finally, the device 25 can also determine the driving behavior as a function of a driver type. For this purpose, the device 25 can be coupled via the vehicle bus 17 to a device for determining the identity of the driver. Historical data on this driver can be stored in device 25, so that device 25 can assign the current driver to a specific driver type, which determines the driving behavior. The driving behavior determined by the device 25 is transmitted to a timer 27 . Depending on the driving behavior determined, the timer 27 determines a time interval ΔT for the transition from one overall light distribution to another overall light distribution. The specific time interval ΔT is transmitted from the timer 27 to the control unit 16, which processes it further.

The control device 16 is also connected to a delay unit 26 . The delay unit 26 determines a delay time, which delays switching between two overall light distributions or between two lighting states for the lighting range. The determination of the delay time by means of the delay unit 26 will be described later in detail.

• Mit Bezug zu den 12 und 13 wird erläutert, wie von der ersten Gesamtlichtverteilung 39 auf die zweite Gesamtlichtverteilung 40 umgeschaltet wird. Das Fahrzeug 10 fährt beispielsweise auf einer einspurigen Fahrbahn 26. Die Scheinwerferanordnung des Fahrzeugs 10 erzeugt die erste Gesamtlichtverteilung 39. Mittels der Kamera 18 und der Bildverarbeitungsvorrichtung 15 wird aufgrund anderer erfasster Verkehrsteilnehmer 11 und 12 ein Steuersignal an das Steuergerät 16 übertragen, dass von der ersten Gesamtlichtverteilung 39 auf das maskierte Dauerfernlicht der zweiten Gesamtlichtverteilung 40 umgeschaltet werden soll.

The following describes how the headlight arrangement described above is controlled or regulated in an exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention:

• Related to the 12 and 13 it is explained how the first overall light distribution 39 is switched over to the second overall light distribution 40 . The vehicle 10 is driving, for example, on a single-lane roadway 26. The headlight arrangement of the vehicle 10 generates the first overall light distribution 39. The camera 18 and the image processing device 15 transmit a control signal to the control unit 16 due to other road users 11 and 12 that have been detected, that the first Overall light distribution 39 is to be switched to the masked permanent high beam of the second overall light distribution 40 .

During the transition from the first overall light distribution 39 to the second overall light distribution 40, the actuator 23 is controlled by the control unit 14 of the left headlight 2 in such a way that the light emission direction L of the second headlight 2 moves horizontally outwards in the direction of the oncoming traffic lane from the light emission direction L of the first headlight 1 is swung away. Since in the first overall light distribution 39 the greater headlight range in the right-hand area of the overall light distribution 39 is also generated, among other things, by the light emission of the second, left headlight 2, the problem arises that other road users can see other road users when the left headlight 2 pivots about the vertical axis 38 11 and 12 would be blinded. This situation is schematic in 12 shown.

In order to avoid dazzling other road users 11 and 12 while switching from the first overall light distribution 39 to the second overall light distribution 40, in the method according to the invention the headlight range of the left headlight 2 (for right-hand traffic) is initially on the right side of the central axis 36 between the lanes 26 and 27 is reduced at least to such an extent that it is smaller than the distance to a detected road user 11 or 12. Only then is the second overall light distribution 40 generated by increasing the headlight range in the left side area next to detected road users 11 and 12 in order to to create a corridor with a lower headlight range for one of the road users 11 or 12 or for both road users 11 and 12 . In 13 the switching from the first overall light distribution 39 to the second overall light distribution 40 according to the method according to the invention is shown. It can be seen that other road users are not dazzled during the switching process.

If, conversely, a switch is made from the second overall light distribution 40 back to the first overall light distribution 39, a possible left side area S ₂ of the second overall light distribution 40 is correspondingly initially hidden, so that the headlight range in this area corresponds to the headlight range in the central area M, after which the left headlight 2 is pivoted about the vertical axis 38 back into the position for the first total light distribution 39 and only then is the asymmetrical light distribution characteristic of the first total light distribution 39 also generated by the left headlight 2 .

If a so-called city light function can be generated with the headlight arrangement, in which the asymmetry of the first light distribution 39 is eliminated and such a small maximum headlight range is provided that other road users are not dazzled, this can also be done when switching from the first overall light distribution 39 to the second overall light distribution 40 are first switched to the city light function, then the left headlight 2, and possibly also the right headlight 1, are pivoted outwards about the vertical axis 38 in order to then finally generate the masked continuous high beam of the second overall light distribution 40.

Related to the 14 and 15 the regulation of the headlight range in the central area M in the second overall light distribution 40 is explained. In this case, the second total light distribution 40 differs from that in 10 In the example shown, a corridor with a reduced headlight range 43 is generated in a central area M, in which both a vehicle 12 driving ahead and oncoming vehicles 11a, 11b are located. A second overall light distribution 40 adapted in this way can be generated by a control signal from the image processing device 15 when there is increased traffic density, in which case permanent regulation of the headlight range in the left-hand side area S ₂ would be disadvantageous.

The side areas S ₁ and S ₂ in the 14 and 15 Adapted second total light distribution 40 shown are generated, for example, by pivoting the two headlights 1 and 2 further apart about the vertical axis 38 with regard to their light emission direction L. The inner vertical light-dark boundaries in the corridor for the vehicles 11 and 12 are generated by moving the screens 8 and 9 using the actuators 21 and 24 . However, the horizontal light-dark boundary in the middle area M, ie the headlight range 43 in this middle area M, is generated exclusively by the headlight range adjustment, in that the headlights 1 and 2 are pivoted about the horizontal axis 37 by means of the actuators 19 and 22 . The regulation takes place in such a way that the cut-off line 43 is adapted to the distance from the road users 11 and 12 that have been detected. For example, based on the traffic situation in 14 is shown, the oncoming vehicle 11a has passed, the headlight range is reduced to that in 15 value 44 shown is introduced to the vehicle 12 driving ahead. This type of regulation of the headlight range 43 in the central area M of the second overall light distribution is particularly advantageous when driving uphill and downhill.

In the 16 until 19 a further development of the regulation of the second overall light distribution 40 is shown. As in the related to the 12 and 13 In the example explained, the headlight range in the central area M is regulated in such a way that it extends to the next detected road user 11, 12. The opening angle for the central area M is thus selected such that it captures the direction of all detected road users 11 and 12 in the direction of travel in front of one's own vehicle 10 . On the right side next to the middle area M, a side area S ₁ with a larger lighting range is formed. Similarly, on the left side next to the middle area M, a second side area S ₂ is formed with an increased headlight range.

At the in 16 illustrated situation, in which a preceding vehicle 12 was detected and an oncoming vehicle 11a was detected, the headlight range in the left side area S ₂ is maximum, ie Lmax. When the oncoming vehicle 11a further approaches the vehicle 10 with the headlamp assembly, there is a problem that the driver of the vehicle 11a is blinded by the left side area S ₂ if the center area M is formed with as small an opening angle as possible. When the oncoming vehicle 11a approaches the host vehicle 10, the opening angle for the center area M is increased. However, if an oncoming vehicle 11a reaches the left vertical light-dark boundary to the side area S ₂ , the left side area S ₂ must be switched off, ie the headlight range of the left side area S ₂ must be lowered to the headlight range of the central area M to avoid glare of the passing vehicle 11a. The closer the vehicle 11a is to the host vehicle 10, the higher the speed at which the headlamp range of the left side area S ₂ must be lowered to avoid the glare because the relative angular velocity of the passing vehicle 11a becomes very high and hence very little time is available for reducing the headlight range in the left side area S ₂ .

In order to avoid the risk of dazzling a passing vehicle 11a, in the method according to the invention, the headlight range LW ₂ in the direction of the left side area S ₂ of the second total light distribution is dependent on the horizontal angle Φ between the direction of travel FR of the vehicle 10 and the line connecting the Vehicle 10 regulated to the oncoming vehicle 11a. The headlight range LW ₂ in the left side area S ₂ of the second overall light distribution 40 is reduced in good time so that there is no abrupt change in the second overall light distribution 40 when an oncoming vehicle 11a passes the host vehicle 10 . The headlight range in the right side area S ₁ can remain unchanged. In this case, the inner vertical light-dark boundary of the second side region S ₁ is controlled as a function of the position of the vehicle 12 driving ahead.

Related to the 18 and 19 the regulation of the second overall light distribution during an overtaking maneuver is shown. In front of one's own vehicle 10 there is a vehicle 12 driving ahead, in the direction of which the headlight range is less than the distance from the vehicle 12 driving ahead. During an overtaking maneuver, vehicle 10 drives into the oncoming lane and approaches vehicle 12 driving ahead. In this case, the headlight range LW ₁ in the right-hand side area S ₁ of the overall light distribution 40 is controlled as a function of the horizontal angle Φ between the direction of travel of the vehicle 10 and the connecting line from the vehicle 10 to the vehicle 12 driving ahead. The closer the vehicle 10 comes to the vehicle 12 driving ahead, the further the headlight range LW ₁ in the right-hand side area S ₁ is reduced. The lowering of the right side area S ₁ can be controlled automatically on the basis of the data transmitted from the image processing device 15 . However, the control can also be induced by setting the direction indicator in the direction of the oncoming lane, if necessary in connection with data on the acceleration of vehicle 10 .

During an overtaking maneuver, vehicle 10 drives into the oncoming lane and approaches vehicle 12 driving ahead. In this case, the headlight range LW ₁ in the right-hand side area S ₁ of the second total light distribution 40 is controlled as a function of the horizontal angle Φ between the direction of travel of the vehicle 10 and the connecting line from the vehicle 10 to the vehicle 12 driving ahead. The closer the vehicle 10 comes to the vehicle 12 driving ahead, the further the headlight range LW ₁ in the right-hand side area S ₁ is reduced. The lowering of the right side area S ₁ can be controlled automatically on the basis of the data transmitted from the image processing device 15 . However, the control can also be induced by setting the direction indicator in the direction of the oncoming lane, if necessary in connection with data on the acceleration of vehicle 10 .

$$LW=L_{max}\left(-\mathrm{0,25}\cdot \mathrm{\Phi }+\mathrm{1,125}\right)\text{f}\ddot{\text{u}}\text{r}\mathrm{0,5}Grad\le \mathrm{\Phi }\le \mathrm{4,5}Grad.$$

$$LW=0\text{f}\ddot{\text{u}}\text{r}\mathrm{\Phi }>\mathrm{4,5}Grad$$

In 20 an example of a functional relationship between the headlight range LW, ie LW ₁ or LW ₂ , and the horizontal angle Φ to another road user 11 or 12 is shown. In this example, the horizontal angle Φ is positive both toward an oncoming vehicle 11 and toward a preceding vehicle 12 which is being overtaken. Up to an angle of 0.5 degrees, the headlight range LW is at its maximum in the lateral area S ₁ or S ₂ , ie it corresponds to the headlight range Lmax. At larger horizontal angles Φ, the headlight range LW is linearly reduced until it reaches a minimum value from 4.5 degrees at which other road users are no longer dazzled. The light range is determined as follows: $$LW=L_{\text{Max}}\text{f}\ddot{\text{and}}\text{right}\mathrm{\Phi }<0.5G\mathrm{right}a\mathrm{i.e}$$

$$LW=L_{max}\left(-0.25\cdot \mathrm{\Phi }+1.125\right)\text{f}\ddot{\text{and}}\text{right}0.5G\mathrm{right}a\mathrm{i.e}\le \mathrm{\Phi }\le 4.5G\mathrm{right}a\mathrm{i.e}.$$

$$LW=0\text{f}\ddot{\text{and}}\text{right}\mathrm{\Phi }>4.5G\mathrm{right}a\mathrm{i.e}$$

The increase in 20 curve shown can also be varied. For example, it can be increased to 0.4 degrees ^-1 or decreased to 0.167 degrees ^-1 . In this case, the limit angles for the drop in the headlight range and for reaching the minimum headlight range can also be varied.

As explained above, the time interval for the transition from one overall light distribution to another overall light distribution can also be specified by the control unit 16 . This time interval is transmitted to control device 16 by timer 27 . In particular, the time interval determines a switchover from the first overall light distribution 39 or from the third overall light distribution 41 to the second overall light distribution 40.

In 21 a diagram is shown which, in the unit %/s, represents the change in the headlight range ΔLW per unit of time as a function of the vehicle acceleration. In this case, 0% means that the headlight range LW corresponds to the headlight range of a low beam function and 100% corresponds to the headlight range of a high beam function. A headlight range change of 100% per second thus causes a time interval ΔT of one second to change from a headlight range for a low beam function to a headlight range for a masked permanent high beam. Accordingly, a headlight range change of 20% per second means a time interval ΔT of 5 seconds until the masked permanent high beam is fully activated.

wobei für k₃ gilt $$10\frac{\%s}{m}\le k_3\le 200\frac{\%s}{m}$$

insbesondere $$40\frac{\%s}{m}\le k_3\le 80\frac{\%s}{m}$$

und bevorzugt gilt: $$k_3=50\frac{\%s}{m}$$

und wobei gilt: $$20\frac{\%}{s}\le \mathrm{\Delta }LW\le 150\frac{\%}{s}$$

The change in headlight range ΔLW and thus the time interval ΔT for changing from one overall light distribution to another overall light distribution can be calculated from the acceleration B as follows: $$\mathrm{\Delta }\text{Lw}=\text{B}\cdot {\text{<figure-callout id="3" label="k" filenames="DE102009061874B3\_0023.png,DE102009061874B3\_0036.png" state="{{state}}">k</figure-callout>}}_3$$

where k is ₃ $$10\frac{\%s}{m}\le {\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="3"\; label="k"\; filenames="DE102009061874B3\_0023.png,DE102009061874B3\_0036.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">k</figure-callout>}}_3\le 200\frac{\%s}{m}$$

especially $$40\frac{\%s}{m}\le {\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="3"\; label="k"\; filenames="DE102009061874B3\_0023.png,DE102009061874B3\_0036.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">k</figure-callout>}}_3\le 80\frac{\%s}{m}$$

and preferably: $${\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="3"\; label="k"\; filenames="DE102009061874B3\_0023.png,DE102009061874B3\_0036.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">k</figure-callout>}}_3=50\frac{\%s}{m}$$

and where: $$20\frac{\%}{s}\le \mathrm{\Delta }LW\le 150\frac{\%}{s}$$

The following is related to 22 described how a time interval Tv is determined by means of the delay unit 26, by which the switching between two total light distributions or two lighting states of a total light distribution depending on the detection rate of other road users 11, 12 is determined. The data about the occurrence and the positions of other road users 11 , 12 are transmitted to the delay unit 26 by the image processing device 15 via the control unit 16 and the vehicle bus 17 . The control unit 16 processes the delay time transmitted by the delay unit 26 in such a way that a switching process is delayed by this time interval Tv.

An example is described below, in which the delay unit 26 determines a time interval Tv for the delay time for switching from the first total light distribution 39, i.e., for example, a low beam, to the second total light distribution 40, i.e., for example, a masked permanent high beam. For this purpose, the delay unit 26 comprises a signal transmitter 45 which detects a change from the second total light distribution 40 to the first total light distribution 39 and sends a signal to a switch 46 with each change. With each change from the second total light distribution 40 to the first total light distribution 39, the signal from the signal transmitter 45 operates the switch 46 in such a way that a positive time value, which is generated by a time incrementer 47, is switched to its first input. For example, with such a change, a time value of 7 seconds can be applied to the first input of the switch 46, which forwards this value to its output.

After a signal from the signal generator 45 and the one-time transmission of the time value of the time incrementer 47, the switch 46 switches to a second input which is connected to the output of a further switch 48. The switch 48 is connected to a further signal generator 49 . The signal generator 49 detects whether the first overall light distribution 39 is active. If so, it switches the first input of switch 48 to the output of a first decay rate timer 50 . This first timer 50 continuously outputs a certain negative time value per time unit to the first input of the switch 48 . For example, a reduction rate of -0.3 s ^-1 is output by the first timer 50 to the first input of the switch 48, which feeds this value to the second input of the switch 46 via its output.

When the signal generator 49 detects that the first overall light distribution 39 is not active, it switches the switch 48 over to the second input, which is connected to a second decay rate timer 51 . The second timer 51 causes the delay time to decrease more quickly. For example, the second timer continuously transmits to the second input of the switch 48 a degradation rate of -0.8 s ^-1 , which is forwarded to the second input of the switch 46 when the first total light distribution 39 is not active.

The time values generated at the output of the switch 46 are transmitted to an integrator 52 which sums the values. However, the integrator 52 includes a limit on the delay time Tv. The delay Tv can only be in a range between 2 seconds and 200 seconds. The delay time Tv is output from the integrator 52. This delay time Tv is transmitted from delay unit 26 to control unit 16 .

It is pointed out that the signal generator 45 detects a change from the second overall light distribution 40 to the first overall light distribution 39 in particular when another road user, for example an oncoming vehicle 11 or a vehicle 12 driving ahead, has been detected on the adjacent lane. Thus, the delay time Tv depends on the detection rate of other road users. Alternatively, however, it is also possible for the signal generator 45 to output a signal to the switch 46 independently of an actual change in the overall light distribution when another road user has been newly detected. This is the other newly recorded one Road users, in particular, a vehicle 12 driving ahead on the adjacent lane, which is overtaking one's own vehicle 10, or an oncoming vehicle 11, which is leaving the detection range of the camera and is driving past one's own vehicle.

The delay time Tv can be used not only to delay switching between two overall light distributions, but also when switching between two lighting states of an overall light distribution. As explained above, the second overall light distribution 40, ie the masked continuous high beam, can have two lighting states, for example. In a first standard lighting state, a corridor is formed for a detected road user or several detected road users 11, 12, in front of which a central area M with a smaller lighting range is formed and side areas S ₁ and S ₂ with a larger lighting range are formed to the side (see Fig 14 and 15 ). In a different lighting state, for example, the left side area S ₂ (in the case of right-hand traffic) can be dispensed with. The same lighting range is then provided in this area as in the middle area M. In this case it is not necessary, as in relation to FIGS 16 and 17 explains how to regulate the headlight range in the left area depending on the horizontal angle Φ to a detected road user. In this case, if signal generator 45 detects an oncoming vehicle 11 too often, for example, the headlight range in side area S ₂ is no longer controlled as a function of horizontal angle Φ to an oncoming vehicle 11, but the increase in headlight range im Region S ₂ is delayed by the time interval Tv after an oncoming vehicle 11 has passed the host vehicle 10 . If oncoming vehicles 12 are again detected within this time interval Tv, and therefore - as with reference to FIG 22 explained - the signal generator 45 supplies the time value of the time incrementer 47 to the integrator 52, the headlight range in the side area S ₂ will remain minimal for a long time and will not be increased in the meantime.

• Von der Bildverarbeitungsvorrichtung 15 wird dem Steuergerät 16 ein Signal übertragen, wenn ein neuer Verkehrsteilnehmer, zum Beispiel ein neues Fahrzeug, erfasst wurde. Dieses Signal wird dem Schalter 57 als Steuersignal zugeführt. Der Schalter 57 schaltet daraufhin den in 23 gezeigten oberen ersten Eingang durch, welcher mit dem Ausgang der Logikeinheit 56 verbunden ist. Die Logikeinheit 56 weist zwei Eingänge auf, über welche Schrittweiten zugeführt werden. Über den ersten Eingang wird eine positionsabhängige Schrittweite der Logikeinheit 56 zugeführt. Hierfür wird die von der Bildverarbeitungsvorrichtung 15 übertragene Position des Objekts einem positionsabhängigen ersten Schrittweiteninkrementator 53 zugeführt, welcher mittels einer Kennlinie der Position des neuen Objekts eine Schrittweite zuordnet und sie an die Logikeinheit 56 ausgibt. Dem zweiten Eingang der Logikeinheit 56 wird eine geschwindigkeitsabhängige Schrittweite zugeführt. Hierfür wird mittels des Geschwindigkeitsmessers 54 die aktuelle Fahrzeuggeschwindigkeit einem geschwindigkeitsabhängigen zweiten Schrittweiteninkrementator 55 zugeführt. Anhand einer Kennlinie ermittelt der zweite Schrittweiteninkrementator 55 eine Schrittweite in Abhängigkeit von der Fahrzeuggeschwindigkeit und überträgt sie an die Logikeinheit 56. Die Logikeinheit 56 ermittelt die maximale Schrittweite, welche über die beiden Eingänge übertragen wurden, und überträgt diese maximale Schrittweite an den ersten Eingang des Schalters 57, welcher sie an einen Integrator 59 weiterleitet.

Furthermore, it can be determined in the control device 16 under which conditions switching is actually carried out between two overall light distributions or two lighting states of an overall light distribution. When deciding whether a switchover takes place at all, control unit 16 can take into account the statistics of the road users detected and/or the development of the steering angle over time. This is explained below using the switchover between the second overall light distribution 40 and the third overall light distribution 41 with reference to FIG 23 explained:

• A signal is transmitted from the image processing device 15 to the control unit 16 when a new road user, for example a new vehicle, has been detected. This signal is supplied to the switch 57 as a control signal. The switch 57 then switches the in 23 shown upper first input through which is connected to the output of the logic unit 56. The logic unit 56 has two inputs via which increments are supplied. A position-dependent increment is fed to the logic unit 56 via the first input. For this purpose, the position of the object transmitted by the image processing device 15 is supplied to a position-dependent first step size incrementator 53, which assigns a step size to the position of the new object using a characteristic curve and outputs it to the logic unit 56. A speed-dependent increment is fed to the second input of the logic unit 56 . For this purpose, the current vehicle speed is supplied to a speed-dependent second incremental incrementor 55 by means of the speedometer 54 . Using a characteristic curve, the second step size incrementator 55 determines a step size as a function of the vehicle speed and transmits it to the logic unit 56. The logic unit 56 determines the maximum step size that was transmitted via the two inputs and transmits this maximum step size to the first input of the switch 57, which forwards it to an integrator 59.

After that, the switch 57 switches to the second - in 23 shown below - input connected to a rate dependent step size decrementor 58 . The current vehicle speed is also supplied to the increment decrementator 58 by means of the speedometer 54 . Using a characteristic, the increment decrementator 58 determines an increment value by which the increment of the integrator 59 is to be decremented per time unit. The increment decrementer 58 thus specifies a speed-dependent reduction rate for the increment.

The step size, which is determined by the integrator 59, can be limited to a range of 30 to 300, for example. In this case, the degradation rate specified by the increment decrementer 58 can be in a range from -40 to -30 per second.

Furthermore, the increment value is shifted as a function of the speed, around the switch-on and switch-off thresholds for the third overall light distribution 41 directly via the vehicle speed to influence. For this purpose, the current speed is also supplied by the speedometer 54 to the displacement unit 61, which determines a displacement for the increment by means of a characteristic curve. The step size output by the integrator 59 is fed to a positive input of an arithmetic element 60 , and the step size output by the shifting unit 61 is fed to a negative input of the arithmetic element 60 . The arithmetic element 60 subtracts the increment transmitted by the shifting unit 61 from the increment output by the integrator 59 and outputs the result to a hysteresis unit 62 . The hysteresis unit 62 specifies switching thresholds so that too frequent switching between the two overall light distributions is prevented.

• In diesem Fall wird ferner kontinuierlich der Lenkwinkel des Fahrzeugs von einer Lenkwinkelerfassungseinheit 64 erfasst. Der erfasste Lenkwinkel wird einer Erzeugungseinheit 65 zum Erzeugen eines Gewichtungsfaktors zugeführt. Die Erzeugungseinheit 65 gibt einen lenkwinkelabhängigen Gewichtungsfaktor an den ersten Eingang einer Logikeinheit 66 aus.

Finally, depending on the increment that is output by the computing element 60, a characteristic signal is output via the first output unit 63 either for the second or for the third overall light distribution 40, 41. The control member 16 can control the headlight assembly depending on this license plate signal. However, it is also possible that it also takes into account changes in the steering angle of the vehicle 10, as explained below:

• In this case, the steering angle of the vehicle is also continuously detected by a steering angle detection unit 64 . The detected steering angle is supplied to a generating unit 65 for generating a weighting factor. The generating unit 65 outputs a steering angle-dependent weighting factor to the first input of a logic unit 66 .

Furthermore, the speed determined by the speedometer 54 is supplied to a second generating unit 67 for generating a further weighting factor. This unit 67 uses a characteristic curve to generate a weighting factor which is fed to the second input of the logic unit 66 . The logic unit 66 determines which of the two supplied weighting factors is the lower one and forwards this to the first input of a weighting unit 68 .

The steering angle determined by the steering angle detection unit 64 is supplied to a differentiator 69, which determines the change in the steering angle over time. The absolute value of the change in angle is determined in the computing element 70 and fed to the second input of the weighting unit 68 . A parameter is thus determined in the weighting unit 68 as a function of characteristic curves for the vehicle speed and as a function of the steering angle or the change in the steering angle, which parameter is supplied to a positive input of a further computing element 71 . The current vehicle speed is also fed from the speedometer 54 to a threshold value generator 72, which uses a characteristic curve to generate a speed-dependent threshold value and feeds it to a negative input of the computing element 71. The threshold value is subtracted from the parameter in the computing element 71 and the result is supplied to an integrator 73 . The threshold value generated by the threshold value generator 72 is selected such that when there is no change in the steering angle or only a small change in the steering angle, an input value for the weighting unit 71 results, which causes the parameter determined by the integrator 73 to decrease. The threshold for reducing the parameter determined by the integrator 73 for the steering angle change is in a range between 2° per second and 3° per second.

The parameter integrated by the integrator 73 reflects a change in the steering angle. The integrator 73 transmits the determined change in the steering angle to a hysteresis unit 74, which implements switch-on and switch-off thresholds for the switching process in order to prevent too frequent switching back and forth. The hysteresis unit 74 is set, for example, such that a switchover from the second total light distribution 40 to the third total light distribution 41 takes place above integrated steering angle changes of approximately 200 degrees. If the integrated change in the steering angle falls below around 100 degrees, the second total light distribution becomes active again. The hysteresis unit 74 outputs an identification signal via the second output unit 75 which characterizes either the second or the third overall light distribution 40, 41.

The control unit 16 can use the first output unit 63 or the second output unit 75 to determine which overall light distribution is to be controlled. A further logic unit 76 can also be provided in the control unit 16, to which the identification signals of the first output unit 63 and the second output unit 75 are supplied. The logic unit 76 determines an identification signal from these two input signals, which is output via the third output unit 77 . In this case, an identification signal for the third total light distribution 41 is generated when such an identification signal is output from the first output unit 63 or the second output unit 75 . The control unit 16 can finally use this characteristic signal to generate the corresponding overall light distribution by means of the headlight arrangement.

Reference List

1

right headlight

2

left headlight

3

light source

4

Housing

5

lens

6

reflector

7

projection lens

8th

first aperture

8a

Shading edge of the first aperture

9

second aperture

9a

Shading edge of the second aperture

10

Vehicle with the headlight assembly

11

oncoming vehicle

12

vehicle ahead

13

Control unit for the right headlight

14

Control unit for the left headlight

15

Image processing device (device for detecting other road users)

16

control unit

17

vehicle bus

18

camera

19

first actuator for the right headlight

20

second actuator for the right headlight

21

third actuator for the right headlight

22

first actuator for the left headlight

23

second actuator for the left headlight

24

third actuator for the left headlight

25

Device for detecting driving behavior

26

delay unit

27

timer

28

navigation device

29

GPS receiver

30

central axis

31

extraction unit

32

classifier

33

confidence unit

34

allocation unit

35

horizontal plane

36

central axis

37

horizontal axis

38

vertical axis

39

first overall light distribution / low beam

40

second total light distribution / masked permanent high beam

41

third overall light distribution/ variable headlight range

42

15° slope of the first total light distribution

43

headlight range

44

headlight range

45

signaller

46

Switch

47

time incrementer

48

Switch

49

signaller

50

first decay rate timer

51

second decay rate timer

52

integrator

53

position dependent first step size incrementator

54

speedometer

55

position dependent second step size incrementator

56

logic unit

57

Switch

58

position dependent step size incrementator

59

integrator

60

arithmetic element

61

displacement unit

62

hysteresis unit

63

first output unit

64

steering angle detection unit

65

first weighting factor generation unit

66

logic unit

67

second weighting factor generating unit

68

weight unit

69

differentiator

70

arithmetic element

73

threshold generator

100-170

process steps

180-280

process steps

Claims (6)

Method for controlling a headlight arrangement of a vehicle (10), in which - preceding and oncoming road users (11, 12) are detected in the direction of travel in front of the vehicle (10) and - the light distribution generated by the headlight arrangement is regulated in such a way that it is directed in the direction of a road user (12) driving ahead has a lighting range that is less than the distance to the road user (12) driving ahead that is detected, and whose lighting range in the direction of the neighboring lane depends on the detection of another road user (11) between at least a first lighting state with a increased illumination of the neighboring lane and a second lighting state with less illumination of the neighboring lane is switched back and forth, - the switching between the two lighting states for the lighting range in the direction of the neighboring lane being delayed depending on the detection rate of the other road users (11). , characterized in that - it is detected whether a multi-lane road is being driven on, and a switch is made to the second lighting state for the adjacent lane if a multi-lane road has been detected. procedure after claim 1 , characterized in that the delay time (Tv) is greater, the more frequently other road users (11) are detected. procedure after claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that with each additional road user (11) detected, the delay time (Tv) is lengthened by an extension interval and the delay time (Tv) is shortened at a defined reduction rate over time. procedure after claim 3 , characterized in that the extension interval is determined as a function of the horizontal angular position in which the other road user (11) has been detected. Procedure according to one of claims 3 or 4 , characterized in that the lengthening interval (Tv) and/or the reduction rate is determined as a function of the vehicle speed. Headlight arrangement for a vehicle (10) with - at least two spaced headlights (1, 2) for generating an overall light distribution (40), - a device (15, 18) for detecting preceding and oncoming road users (11, 12) in the direction of travel in front of the vehicle (10) and - a control device (16), which is coupled to the road user detection device (15, 18) and with which an overall light distribution (40) can be generated, which can be regulated in such a way that it points in the direction of a detected road user (12 ) has a lighting range that is less than the distance to the detected road user (12) driving ahead, and whose lighting range in the direction of the adjacent lane depends on the detection of another road user (11) between at least a first lighting state with increased illumination of the adjacent lane and a second lighting state with less illumination of the neighboring lane h can be switched back and forth, - the control device (16) having a delay unit (26) with which switching between the two lighting states for the lighting range in the direction of the neighboring lane can be delayed depending on the detection rate of other road users (11), characterized in that - it can be detected whether a multi-lane road is being driven on, and the control device (16) is set up to switch to the second lighting state for the adjacent lane if a multi-lane road has been detected.

Images