JP2006082653A - Lamp lighting integrity detection device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lamp lighting state detection device capable of detecting a lamp lighting state more surely without using an accompanied current detection circuit for detecting a drive current supplied from a power supply source to a lamp at the time of controlling lighting of the lamp. <P>SOLUTION: The device comprises a camera 4 picking up an image of a vehicle rear region including a lamp mounted to a vehicle and installed to a vehicle rear part, a lamp luminance detection part 11 detecting luminance of the lamp from the image picked up by the camera 4, and a lighting state determining part 12 determining the lamp lighting state, so as to detect the luminance of the lamp from the picked-up image of the lamp and determine the lamp lighting state based on the luminance of the lamp and lighting control signals of the lamp. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a lamp lighting state detection device that detects a lighting state of a lamp installed at the rear of a vehicle.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a lamp breakage detection device that detects a lighting state by detecting whether or not a current is flowing through a lamp circuit in a state where the lamp is controlled to be lit (see Patent Document 1).

In this device, the drive current that flows during lamp lighting control is detected by an accompanying current detection circuit, and the result of detection of the drive current is compared with a reference voltage by a comparator to determine the presence or absence of disconnection. Yes.
JP 2002-270383 A

  However, the conventional lamp disconnection detection device has additional equipment including a separate control unit and a connection unit in addition to an accompanying current detection circuit that detects a drive current supplied from the power supply source to the lamp during lamp lighting control. In a necessary point, there is a problem that not only the cost increases but also the weight increases.

  Further, since the change in the drive current is minute, there is a problem that erroneous detection is likely to occur in the current detection circuit.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a lamp lighting state detection that can more reliably detect the lamp lighting state without using an accompanying current detection circuit for detecting the drive current supplied to the lamp from the power supply source during lamp lighting control. An object is to provide an apparatus.

  In the present invention, an image pickup means for picking up an image of a vehicle rear region including a lamp mounted on the vehicle and installed at the rear of the vehicle, and a lamp for detecting the illuminance of the lamp from the image picked up by the image pickup means Based on the illuminance detection means, the lamp lighting control signal, and the lamp illuminance detected by the lamp illuminance detection means, the determination means for determining the lighting state of the lamp, and the determination result by the determination means The main feature is that it includes a determination result output means for outputting.

  According to the present invention, the lamp lighting state can be detected without installing a current detection circuit for detecting a driving current supplied from the power supply source to the lamp during lamp lighting control. Additional equipment including a detection circuit, a separate control unit and a connection unit is not required, and an increase in cost and weight can be suppressed, and the lighting state of the lamp can be detected more reliably.

  (First Embodiment) FIGS. 1 to 6 show a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a lamp lighting state detecting device, and FIG. 2 is a control of the lamp lighting state detecting device. FIG. 3 is a block diagram, FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the entire image captured by the imaging unit, FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the illuminance detection region of the lamp set for the region A of the image in FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating details of lighting state determination, and FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an imaging region of the imaging unit.

  The lamp lighting state detection device 1 according to the present embodiment is embodied as a function of a rear view camera system. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the lamp lighting state detection apparatus 1 includes a camera 4, a controller 2, and a monitor 5, and an image captured by the camera 4 and processed by the controller 2 is displayed on the monitor 5. It has become so.

  The camera 4 as the imaging means is configured as a CCD camera, for example, and is mounted on the upper rear side of the vehicle 30 as shown in FIG. The camera 4 captures and captures the imaging region B of FIG. 4, that is, the vehicle rear region including the lamp installed at the rear of the vehicle 30 within a predetermined visual field, and acquires an image as illustrated in FIG. 3. .

  The monitor 5 serving as a display means is configured as a liquid crystal panel installed on an instrument panel, for example, and displays captured images and other images so that a passenger such as a driver can visually recognize the images.

  Further, the lamp lighting state detection device 1 according to the present embodiment determines the lighting state of the lamp based on the lighting control signal for turning on and off the lamp provided at the rear of the vehicle and the image captured by the camera 4. It has a function to output the result. That is, a lighting control signal is output from a part of the circuit configuration for turning on / off each lamp (this is referred to as a lighting control signal output unit 3), and the controller 2 makes a determination based on the lighting control signal and the captured image. The result is output from the determination result output unit 6.

  Here, the lighting control signal output unit 3 includes, for example, a brake switch 3 a for the stop lamp 21, a turn signal switch 3 b for the rear turn signal lamp 22, a tail lamp 23, and a line sense plate lamp 24. A shift device 3d can be used for the tail lamp relay 3c and the reverse lamp 25.

  Moreover, the determination result output part 6 can be comprised as the speaker 6a or the warning lamp 6b, for example.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the controller 2 includes an image processing unit 8 and a display control unit 15 to perform image processing and display control, as well as an execution determination unit 10, a lamp illuminance detection unit 11, a lighting state determination unit 12, And the determination result output control part 13 is provided, and the lighting state of a lamp | ramp is determined. Further, the controller 2 includes an environmental illuminance detection unit 9 and a threshold value setting unit 14 so that appropriate lighting state determination can be performed according to changes in environmental illuminance.

  Furthermore, the lamp lighting state detection device 1 according to the present embodiment includes a memory 7 and stores information used for determining the lighting state and other information in the memory 7.

  Next, the lighting state determination by the controller 2 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  First, in step S0, when the ignition switch is turned on and the lamp lighting state detection apparatus 1 is turned on, a predetermined initialization process is performed, and then the operation of the controller 2 is started.

  In step S10, an image reading process is executed. Specifically, the image processing unit 8 performs preprocessing such as filtering on the image captured by the camera 4.

  In the next step S20, the ambient illuminance G1 around the lamp is detected. Specifically, the environmental illuminance detection unit 9 acquires, as the environmental illuminance G1 around the lamp, an average value of the luminance values of the pixels in the environmental illuminance detection region set in advance in the imaging region by the camera 4.

  Here, the ambient illuminance detection region may be, for example, the entire imaging region 26 (FIG. 3), or a region C excluding the imaging region of the lamp and the vehicle body from the entire imaging region 26 (the hatched region in FIG. 4). It is good. Information indicating the position of the pixel in the environmental illuminance detection area within the imaging area is acquired in advance and stored in the memory 7.

  In the next step S30, the execution determination unit 10 compares the ambient illuminance G1 around the lamp with the second threshold value Ga held in advance, and determines whether or not to determine the lighting state.

  That is, when the environmental illuminance G1 is equal to or less than the second threshold value Ga, the process proceeds to step S40, and determination of the lighting state of the lamp is executed based on the detected lamp illuminance.

  On the other hand, when the environmental illuminance G1 exceeds the second threshold Ga, the lighting state determination based on the lamp illuminance is not executed, and the process returns to step S10. Here, when the ambient illuminance G1 is large, such as when the lamp is exposed to direct sunlight, the difference in the illuminance of the lamp between the non-lighted state and the lit state may be small, and an erroneous determination may occur. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the second threshold value Ga is set as the determination upper limit value of the environmental illuminance, and the lighting state determination is not executed when the environmental illuminance G1 exceeds the second threshold value Ga in step S30. I have to.

  In step S40, it is determined whether lamp lighting control is being executed based on the lamp lighting control signal. When a lighting control signal (ON signal) for lighting the lamp is acquired, the processes of steps S50 to S70 are executed for the lamp whose lighting is controlled.

In step S50, a first threshold value corresponding to the ambient illuminance is set. Specifically, the threshold value setting unit 14 acquires the illuminance reference values B0, W0, T0, L0, and R0 in step S20 so that the first threshold value increases as the environmental illuminance increases. Correction is performed using the environmental illuminance G1. As an example, the first threshold values Ba, Wa, Ta, La, and Ra of each lamp are obtained by the following equations (1) to (5).
Ba = B0 (α1 · G1 / G0 + β1) (1)
Wa = W0 (α2 · G1 / G0 + β2) (2)
Ta = T0 (α3 · G1 / G0 + β3) (3)
La = L0 (α4 · G1 / G0 + β4) (4)
Ra = R0 (α5 · G1 / G0 + β5) (5)
Here, G0 is the ambient illuminance reference value, B0 is the illuminance reference value of the stop lamp 21, W0 is the illuminance reference value of the rear turn signal lamp 22, T0 is the illuminance reference value of the tail lamp 23, and L0 is the illuminance of the line sense plate lamp 24. The reference value, R0, is the illuminance reference value of the reverse lamp 25. Any reference value is stored in the memory 7 in advance, and is updated in step S80 described later. Α1 to α5 are weighting factors, and β1 to β5 are offset values.

  In this way, the first threshold value is changed in accordance with the ambient illuminance, for example, the difference in lamp illuminance between the non-lighting state and the lighting state is different between nighttime and daytime, and the lighting state of the lamp is changed. This is because if the threshold value for determination is fixed, an erroneous determination may be made.

  Next, on the basis of the first threshold value set in step S50, the lighting state of the lamps is determined according to the flow shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, only the case of the stop lamp 21 is illustrated, but the same processing is executed for the other lamps.

  First, in step S601, stop lamp illuminance B1 is detected. Specifically, the lamp illuminance detection unit 11 acquires the luminance value of the pixels in the preset stop lamp illuminance detection region 21A (FIG. 7) from the image processed in step S10, and calculates the average value thereof. Detected as stop lamp illuminance B1.

  Here, in the case where the lamp includes a plurality of bulbs (light emitting units), if the illuminance is detected from the luminance values of the pixels in a narrow range, the illuminance is greatly influenced by the lighting state of the specific bulb, and is within the stop lamp. If there is a non-lighted bulb, it may not be detected. Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to improve the detection accuracy even in such a case, the average value of the luminance values of the pixels in the stop lamp illuminance detection region 21A (FIG. 7) including almost the entire light emission region of the stop lamp is calculated. The stop lamp illuminance B1 is acquired. In FIG. 7, 21A is a lamp illuminance detection area of the stop lamp, 22A is a lamp illuminance detection area of the rear turn signal lamp, 23A is a lamp illuminance detection area of the tail lamp, and 25A is a reverse lamp. The lamp illuminance detection area is shown.

  In the next step S602, the lighting state determination unit 12 compares the stop lamp illuminance B1 with the first threshold value Ba of the stop lamp 21. In step S602, when the stop lamp illuminance B1 does not exceed the threshold value Ba, it is determined that the stop lamp 21 is not lit. In step S603, the determination result is stored, and the process proceeds to step S70. When the stop lamp illuminance B1 exceeds the threshold value Ba, it is determined that the stop lamp 21 is lit, the determination result is stored in step S604, and the process proceeds to step S70.

  If there is another lamp whose lighting is controlled, the process returns to step S601, and the lighting state is determined for all of the other lamps whose lighting is controlled. Then, the process proceeds to step S70.

  In step S70, the determination result of the lighting state of the lamp based on the processing of steps S601 to S604 is output. Specifically, the determination result output control unit 13 controls the determination result output unit 6 to output according to the determination result. For example, a warning sound or voice warning is output from the speaker 6a or the warning lamp 6b is turned on to notify the driver or other passenger of the determination result.

  At this time, if an image of the vehicle rear region including the lamp is displayed on the monitor 5, an occupant such as a driver can check the unlit lamp by visually recognizing the image. Furthermore, if the display control unit 15 adds a display indicating a non-lighted lamp to the image of the monitor 5 based on the signal received from the determination result output control unit 13, a passenger such as a driver can more reliably The unlit lamp can be confirmed.

  On the other hand, if no lamp lighting control signal is input in step S50, the environmental illuminance reference value G0 and the illuminance reference values B0, W0, T0, L0, R0 of the respective lamps are updated in step S80. Is done. In this step S80, in the same manner as in step S601, the average value of the luminance values of the pixels in the lamp illuminance detection area preset in the imaging area by the camera 4 is detected as the illuminance reference value of each lamp, and the value Is stored in the memory 7. The ambient illuminance G1 detected in step S20 is stored in the memory 7 as a new ambient illuminance reference value G0.

  As described above, when all the lamps are not lit, the environmental illuminance reference value G0 and the illuminance reference values B0, W0, T0, L0, and R0 are updated when any of the lamps is lit. This is because if the illuminance reference value is updated, the accuracy of the illuminance reference value deteriorates due to the influence of the lamps that are lit, and the determination accuracy deteriorates.

  If the process of step S50-S70 mentioned above or step S80 is performed, it will return to step S10 and the flow of FIG. 5 will be performed repeatedly. Therefore, in step S80, the environmental illuminance reference value used for calculating the threshold value and the illuminance reference value of each lamp are sequentially updated, so that a more accurate determination suitable for the traveling environment of the vehicle that changes from moment to moment can be made. Realized.

  As described above, since the lamp lighting state detection device 1 according to the present embodiment is embodied as a function of the existing rear view camera system, the driving supplied from the power supply source to the lamp during lamp lighting control is performed. It is possible to detect the lighting state of the lamp without installing a current detection circuit for detecting the current, and there is no need for additional equipment including a separate current control circuit, separate control unit and connection unit, and cost. Increase and weight increase can be suppressed.

  In particular, even when a plurality of lamps having different power consumptions are targeted for detection, it is not necessary to install a plurality of lamp lighting state detection devices, and detection can be performed by one device.

  Further, in the present embodiment, when the environmental illuminance G1 exceeds the second threshold Ga, the lighting state of the lamp is not determined, so that erroneous detection can be avoided.

  Moreover, since the lighting state determination of the lamp is performed by comparing the illuminance of each lamp with the first threshold value, the determination can be performed more accurately.

  Furthermore, since the first threshold value is changed according to the environmental illuminance G1 detected by the environmental illuminance detector 9, it is possible to make a more accurate determination suitable for the traveling environment of the vehicle.

  Here, since the environmental illuminance detection unit 9 detects the environmental illuminance G1 from the image captured by the camera 4, it is not necessary to provide a separate illuminance measurement device or the like, and the configuration of the lamp lighting state detection device 1 is configured. It can be simplified.

  In addition, since the image captured by the camera 4 is displayed in the passenger compartment, a driver or other passenger can check the unlit lamp by viewing the image.

  Furthermore, if a non-lighted lamp is marked on the image, an occupant such as a driver can confirm the non-lighted lamp more reliably.

  (Second Embodiment) FIGS. 8 and 9 show a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a lamp lighting state detecting device, and FIG. 9 is a flowchart for executing control of a controller. . In addition, below, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same component as 1st Embodiment, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the lamp lighting state detection device 1A according to the present embodiment, in addition to the components of the lamp lighting state detection device 1 according to the first embodiment, performs lighting control for controlling the lighting of the detection target lamp. Unit 16 and a trigger signal output unit 17 that outputs a trigger signal to the lighting control unit 16.

  In the lamp lighting state detection device 1A according to the present embodiment, the lighting control unit 16 that has received the trigger signal (corresponding to the determination instruction input) from the trigger signal output unit 17 in step S1 of FIG. It has a so-called self-diagnosis function in which a control signal is input and a lighting state determination is performed on the lamp whose lighting is controlled.

  In step S31, the execution determination unit 10 determines whether or not the ambient illuminance G1 around the lamp exceeds a second threshold Ga that is held in advance. Here, when the environmental illuminance G1 exceeds the second threshold Ga, the lighting state determination based on the lamp illuminance is not performed, and the process proceeds to step S71.

  In step S71, the determination result output control unit 13 controls the determination result output unit 6 to output according to the determination result. In step S31, if the ambient illuminance G1 exceeds the second threshold value Ga and the lighting state determination based on the lamp illuminance is not performed, the fact is displayed.

  Further, when the process of step S71 is executed, the determination ends without returning to step S1.

  In addition, after the image reading process is executed in step S10, the lighting control unit 16 controls each lamp to be turned off as necessary.

  According to the lamp lighting state detection device 1A according to the present embodiment, the lighting control unit 16 is provided to control the lighting of the lamp, and the lighting state is determined for the lighting-controlled lamp. An operation button or the like is provided as the unit 17 so that an occupant such as a driver can arbitrarily detect the lighting state of the lamp, or the trigger signal output unit 17 is configured as an ignition switch so that the lighting state is turned on when the engine is started. Detection can be performed.

  By the way, the lamp lighting state detection device of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various other embodiments can be adopted without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the imaging area by the camera 4 is fixed obliquely downward. However, in order to make this imaging area variable, an imaging area variable mechanism such as a telescopic rod or an actuator that changes the position and imaging direction of the camera 4 is provided. May be. Thus, for example, a vehicle side area including a lamp installed on the side of the vehicle is imaged to detect the lighting state of the lamp on the vehicle side, or the vehicle rear monitoring is normally performed to image the rear side in the horizontal direction. The camera can be used as an imaging means for the lamp lighting state detection device of the present invention.

  In the above embodiment, the average value of the luminance values of the pixels in the lamp illuminance detection area is obtained as the lamp illuminance, but the total value of the luminance values of the pixels in the lamp illuminance detection area may be obtained.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The schematic block diagram of the lamp lighting state detection apparatus in 1st Embodiment of this invention. The control block diagram of the lamp lighting state detection apparatus in 1st Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows an example of the image imaged by the imaging means in 1st Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows an example of the illumination intensity detection area | region of the lamp set about the area | region A of the image of FIG. The flowchart which performs control of the controller in 1st Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart of the lighting state determination in 1st Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows an example of the imaging area | region in 1st Embodiment of this invention. The block diagram of the lamp lighting state detection apparatus in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which performs control of the controller in 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Lamp lighting state detection apparatus 2 Controller 4 Camera (imaging means)
5 Monitor (display means)
6a Speaker (judgment result output means)
6b Warning light (judgment result output means)
9 Environmental illuminance detector (environmental illuminance detection means)
11 Lamp illuminance detection unit (lamp illuminance detection means)
14 Threshold setting unit (threshold changing means)
16 lighting control part (lamp lighting control means)

Claims (7)

An image pickup means for picking up an image of a vehicle rear region including a lamp mounted on the vehicle and installed at the rear of the vehicle;
Lamp illuminance detection means for detecting the illuminance of the lamp from the image captured by the imaging means;
Determination means for determining the lighting state of the lamp based on the lamp lighting control signal and the lamp illuminance detected by the lamp illuminance detecting means;
A determination result output means for outputting a determination result by the determination means;
A lamp lighting state detection device comprising:   The determination means compares the illuminance of the lamp with a first threshold value, and determines that the lamp is in a non-lighting state when the illuminance of the lamp does not exceed the first threshold value. The lamp lighting state detection device according to claim 1. Environmental illuminance detection means for detecting environmental illuminance around the lamp;
Threshold changing means for changing the first threshold according to the environmental illuminance detected by the environmental illuminance detecting means;
The lamp lighting state detection device according to claim 2, further comprising:   The lamp lighting state detection device according to claim 3, wherein the environmental illuminance detection unit detects the illuminance of the image captured by the imaging unit as the environmental illuminance.   The lamp lighting state according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the determination unit does not determine the lighting state of the lamp when the environmental illuminance exceeds a second threshold value. Detection device.   The lamp lighting state detection device according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying an image picked up by the image pickup means in a passenger compartment. The lamp lighting state detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising lamp lighting control means for controlling turning on and off the lamp based on a predetermined determination instruction input.

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