JP2013060109A - Headlight control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a headlight control device capable of controlling a headlight so that safe night driving is allowed without blinding a pedestrian.SOLUTION: This headlight control device comprises: a headlight control part controlling the switching between high and low beams of a headlight; a pedestrian direction detection part detecting a pedestrian ahead of a vehicle; and a pedestrian direction detection part detecting the direction of the pedestrian by performing image processing of image data of the pedestrian picked up by a CCD camera. When the pedestrian is detected by the pedestrian detection part, the headlight control part switches the headlight from a low beam to a high beam on condition that the direction of the pedestrian detected by the pedestrian direction detection part is backward relative to the vehicle.

Description

  The present invention relates to a headlamp control device that controls a headlamp according to the direction of a pedestrian in front of a host vehicle.

  A vehicle headlamp (headlamp) is configured to be able to switch between a high beam (traveling beam) for irradiating a vehicle far away and a low beam (passing beam) for illuminating the vicinity of the vehicle front.

  When there is a pedestrian in front of the host vehicle, the headlamp is driven with a low beam so as not to dazzle the pedestrian. On the other hand, when there are no pedestrians, the headlamp is driven with a high beam so that a good field of view can be obtained.

  In this way, it is common to manually switch the high beam and low beam of the headlamp depending on the presence or absence of a pedestrian, but in recent years, the presence or absence of a pedestrian is detected and the high beam and low beam of the headlamp are automatically switched. Devices that switch automatically are being developed.

  For example, when it is detected whether or not there is a possibility that a pedestrian is present, if the headlamp is a high beam, the headlamp is switched to a low beam, and the environment is a pedestrian-free environment. When the lamp is a low beam, there is a device that switches the headlamp to a high beam (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2000-198385 A

  However, the technology according to Patent Document 1 detects an environment where a pedestrian may exist by detecting the presence or absence of a sidewalk. That is, when a sidewalk is detected, the headlamp is switched to a low beam, and the headlamp is not switched according to the state of the pedestrian. Therefore, in the technique according to Patent Document 1, since the pedestrian does not switch to the high beam even in a situation where the pedestrian is not dazzled, a good field of view by the high beam cannot be obtained.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a headlamp control device that can control a headlamp to be a high beam when the pedestrian is not dazzled even if a pedestrian is present. The purpose is to provide.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems, a headlamp control unit that controls switching between a high beam and a low beam of a vehicle headlamp, and a pedestrian detection unit that detects a pedestrian in front of the vehicle. And pedestrian orientation detection means for detecting the orientation of the pedestrian by performing image processing on the pedestrian image data captured by the imaging means mounted on the vehicle, the headlamp control means When a pedestrian is detected by the pedestrian detection means, the headlamp is switched from a low beam to a high beam on the condition that the direction of the pedestrian detected by the pedestrian direction detection means is not suitable for the vehicle. It is in the headlamp control device.

  In the first aspect, when it is detected that the pedestrian is not facing the vehicle, the headlamp is switched to the high beam. As a result, the pedestrian is not dazzled, and the traveling time of the high beam can be extended as compared with the prior art, thereby enabling safer night traveling.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the headlamp control device according to the first aspect, when the headlamp control means detects a pedestrian by the pedestrian detection means, the pedestrian direction detection means The headlamp control is characterized in that the headlamp is switched from a low beam to a high beam on condition that the angle formed by the direction of the pedestrian detected in step 1 and the direction of the vehicle is equal to or smaller than a predetermined angle set in advance. In the device.

  In the second aspect, it is possible to detect that the pedestrian is not facing the vehicle by using the angle formed by the direction of the pedestrian and the direction of the vehicle.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the headlamp control device according to the second aspect, the predetermined angle is such that the headlamp is placed in a pedestrian's field of view when a pedestrian's orientation exceeds the predetermined angle. The headlamp control device is characterized in that the angle of the boundary where the light enters.

  In the third aspect, the predetermined angle can be maximized within a range that does not dazzle the pedestrian. Thereby, the opportunity to judge that a pedestrian is facing backward increases, and the traveling time in a high beam can be made longer.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the headlight control device described in the second or third aspect, when the pedestrian detection means detects a plurality of pedestrians, the headlight control means The headlamp control device is characterized in that the headlamp is switched from a low beam to a high beam on condition that an angle formed by the direction of each pedestrian and the direction of the vehicle is equal to or less than the predetermined angle.

  In the fourth aspect, when there are a plurality of pedestrians, if even one pedestrian is facing the vehicle, it is possible to perform control without switching the headlamp to the high beam.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the headlamp control device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, image data of the front vehicle imaged by an imaging unit mounted on the vehicle is obtained. A pedestrian distance detection unit that detects a pedestrian distance between the vehicle and the pedestrian by performing image processing, and a change amount of the pedestrian distance detected by the pedestrian distance detection unit in a predetermined time is calculated. And a relative speed detection means for detecting a relative speed with the pedestrian, wherein the headlamp control means is an angle formed by the pedestrian direction detected by the pedestrian direction detection means and the direction of the vehicle. Is less than a predetermined angle set in advance and the relative speed detected by the relative speed detecting means is less than the speed of the vehicle. Switch to In headlamp control apparatus before, characterized in that.

  In the fifth aspect, the direction of the pedestrian is determined not only based on the direction of the pedestrian recognized by the image processing but also based on the relative speed of the pedestrian. Thereby, it can be determined more reliably whether the direction of the pedestrian is facing the vehicle.

  According to the headlight control device according to the present invention, in a situation that does not dazzle pedestrians, because the headlight is switched to a high beam, the traveling time in the high beam can be made longer than in the prior art, Safer night driving is possible.

It is a schematic block diagram of the headlamp control apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a functional block diagram of a headlamp control device. It is the schematic which shows the upper surface of a vehicle and a pedestrian's head, and the side surface of the pedestrian's head which looked at the pedestrian ahead from the vehicle. It is a figure showing the relationship between the direction of a pedestrian and a predetermined angle. It is a flowchart of the process performed with a headlamp control apparatus. It is a schematic block diagram of the headlamp control apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment. It is a flowchart of the process of the headlamp control apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment. It is the schematic explaining the relative speed with respect to the vehicle of a pedestrian.

<Embodiment 1>
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a headlamp control apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in the figure, the headlamp control device 10 is mounted on a vehicle 1. The headlamp control device 10 shoots a headlamp 2 disposed in front of the vehicle 1, a headlamp operating device 3 for operating On / Off of the headlamp 2, and the front of the vehicle 1. A CCD camera (photographing means) 4 is connected.

  The headlamp 2 is configured to be able to switch between a high beam and a low beam, and is disposed one by one at both ends in the vehicle width direction (one is not shown) of the front end of the vehicle 1.

  The headlamp operating device 3 is disposed in the vicinity of the rotating shaft of the steering 5 provided inside the vehicle 1. The headlamp operating device 3 includes a turn signal lever and a lamp switch (both not shown). The lamp switch is configured to be able to be switched to an AUTO position for controlling an OFF position where the headlamp 2 is turned off, an ON position where the headlamp 2 is lit, and switching between a high beam and a low beam which will be described later. Further, the turn signal lever is configured to be capable of switching between turning on a direction indicator (blinker) and switching between a high beam and a low beam of a headlamp. For example, the left and right direction indicators are lit by tilting the turn signal lever in the vertical direction. Further, by tilting the turn signal lever in the front-rear direction, it is possible to switch between a low beam that irradiates the vicinity of the front of the vehicle 1 and a high beam that irradiates the far front of the vehicle 1 when the headlamp 2 is lit. ing. The state of the headlamp operating device 3 is configured to be detected by the headlamp control device 10, and according to the state, the headlamp control device 10 turns off the headlamp 2 and turns on the high beam.・ Low beam switching is performed.

  The CCD camera 4 captures the front of the vehicle 1 and is attached to a room mirror (not shown) of the vehicle 1. The CCD camera 4 uses an image taken in front of the vehicle 1 as image data. The image data is composed of pixels corresponding to the number of pixels of the CCD camera 4, and each pixel is composed of a numerical value representing the color of the pixel by, for example, each color of RGB. Such image data is formed at predetermined intervals, for example, every 1/30 seconds, and is transmitted to the headlamp control device 10. Further, the CCD camera 4 is configured to be able to control various operations such as start and end of imaging and change of focus based on a control signal received from the headlamp control device 10. The mounting position of the CCD camera 4 is not limited to the room mirror, and may be a position where the front of the vehicle 1 can be photographed.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the headlight control device 10. The headlight control device 10 includes a pedestrian detection unit (pedestrian detection means) 11, a pedestrian direction detection unit (pedestrian direction detection means) 12, and a headlight control unit (headlamp control means) 13. Yes.

  The headlamp control device 10 itself is an electronic control device called an ECU (electronic control unit), and although not particularly shown, a storage device (ROM, RAM, etc.) used for a program, a control map, and calculation, performs calculation processing. It consists of a central processing unit (CPU), a timer counter, an interface for inputting / outputting control signals, and the like.

  The pedestrian detection unit 11, the pedestrian direction detection unit 12, and the headlamp control unit 13 described above are implemented as programs that are executed on the above-described hardware of the headlamp control device 10.

  The pedestrian detection unit 11 receives the image data transmitted from the CCD camera 4, and detects the pedestrian by processing the image data. The detection method of a pedestrian is not specifically limited, A well-known image recognition technique can be used. For example, you may detect a pedestrian by applying edge detection processing to image data.

  A pedestrian in the present invention refers to a human being in a state where the CCD camera 4 can image the head. For example, a person who is in front of the vehicle 1 while standing upright, walking or running (that is, regardless of moving speed) is referred to as a pedestrian. In addition, since the vehicle 1 can image the head of a person riding a bicycle, the pedestrian includes a person riding a bicycle.

  The pedestrian direction detection unit 12 receives the image data transmitted from the CCD camera 4, and detects the pedestrian direction by processing the image data. The direction of the pedestrian is the direction of the pedestrian's face in the horizontal plane.

  The direction of the pedestrian will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the vehicle 1 and the pedestrian's head 6t viewed from above, and the pedestrian's head 6s viewed from the vehicle 1 in front.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, when the pedestrian is facing backward with respect to the vehicle 1 (the back is seen from behind), the direction A of the pedestrian is the same direction as the traveling direction B of the vehicle 1.

  For example, the pedestrian orientation detection unit 12 can detect the orientation of such a pedestrian as follows. A human body is detected and a head is specified by a known image recognition technique. It is detected whether each part of the face such as eyes, mouth and nose appears on the head. Since the human face takes a predetermined arrangement within a certain range of both eyes and mouth, the part that is likely to be both eyes and the part that is likely to be the mouth are discriminated by image processing, and the arrangement is predetermined within a certain range. If the obtained arrangement is taken, it is determined that this is a human face. The part which will be both eyes and the part which will be the mouth can be estimated from various feature values on the image.

  When neither eyes nor nose can be detected, it is assumed that the pedestrian is looking backward with respect to the vehicle 1. Specifically, when the direction of the vehicle 1 is the Y axis and the X axis perpendicular to the Y axis is taken, the pedestrian's direction A is represented by an angle θ formed with the Y axis. In the case of FIG. 3A, the azimuth A of the pedestrian is detected as an angle θ formed with the Y axis being 0 degree.

  As shown in FIG. 3B, when the pedestrian is facing the front with respect to the vehicle 1, the pedestrian's direction A is opposite to the traveling direction B of the vehicle 1.

  In this case, the pedestrian orientation detection unit 12 detects the orientation of the face from each part such as the detected eyes and mouth. For example, it is possible to estimate from the positional relationship between the detected portion that will be the eyes and the portion that is the mouth, the left-right balance of the portion that will be the chin with respect to the center of the face determined from such a positional relationship. In the case of FIG. 3B, the direction A of the pedestrian is detected as an angle θ formed with the Y axis being 180 degrees.

  Similarly, as shown in FIG. 3C, the pedestrian orientation detection unit 12 detects the pedestrian orientation A as an angle θ formed with the Y axis even when the pedestrian is facing sideways. Note that the angle θ between the pedestrian orientation A and the Y axis is positive if it is counterclockwise and negative if it is clockwise.

  When the headlamp control unit 13 receives a signal indicating that a pedestrian has been detected from the pedestrian detection unit 11, the headlamp control unit 13 controls the headlamp 2 based on the direction of the pedestrian detected by the pedestrian direction detection unit 12. Control. This control is performed when the lamp switch of the headlamp operating device 3 is switched to the AUTO position.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the direction of a pedestrian and a predetermined angle. As shown in FIG. 4A, the headlight control unit 13 is configured such that the angle θ formed by the pedestrian direction A detected by the pedestrian direction detection unit 12 and the direction of the vehicle 1 (Y axis) is It is determined whether or not the angle is equal to or smaller than a predetermined angle φ set in advance.

  The predetermined angle φ is not particularly limited, but is preferably set as appropriate within a range in which it can be said that the pedestrian is facing backward with respect to the vehicle 1. As an example, it is preferable to set the angle φ such that the headlamp 2 enters the pedestrian's field of view when the angle θ exceeds the angle φ. That is, as shown in FIG. 4B, the angle formed by the pedestrian direction A and the direction of the vehicle 1 (Y axis) just before the headlamp 2 enters within the angle η of the human visual field is described above. The predetermined angle φ is set. By setting such a predetermined angle φ, the predetermined angle φ can be maximized within a range in which the pedestrian is not dazzled. Thereby, the opportunity to judge that a pedestrian is facing backward increases, and the traveling time in a high beam can be made longer.

  The headlamp control unit 13 determines that the pedestrian is facing backward with respect to the vehicle 1 if the angle θ is equal to or less than the predetermined angle φ set in this way. That is, it can be determined that the light from the headlamp 2 does not directly hit the pedestrian's eyes.

  And if the angle (theta) is below the predetermined angle (phi) set in this way, the headlamp control part 13 will switch the headlamp 2 to a high beam.

  The determination of whether or not “the angle θ is equal to or smaller than the predetermined angle φ” can include various modes. For example, it may be determined that “the angle θ is equal to or smaller than the predetermined angle φ” even if the angle θ is equal to or smaller than the predetermined angle φ. Alternatively, it may be determined that “the angle θ is equal to or smaller than the predetermined angle φ” when the angle θ is equal to or smaller than the predetermined angle φ and the state continues for a predetermined time.

  In addition, the headlamp control part 13 controls the headlamp 2 according to the state of a lamp switch or a turn signal lever, when a lamp switch is other than the AUTO position. For example, the headlamp control unit 13 turns off the headlamp 2 when the lamp switch is in the OFF position, and turns on the headlamp 2 when the lamp switch is in the ON position. Further, the headlamp control unit 13 sets the headlamp 2 to a high beam when the turn signal lever is tilted forward in the lighting state of the headlamp 2 and the turn signal lever tilts backward. The headlamp 2 is set to a low beam.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart of processing performed by the headlight control device. The process performed by the headlamp control apparatus 10 having the above-described configuration will be described in detail with reference to FIG. It is assumed that the vehicle 1 is traveling with the lamp switch in the AUTO position and the headlamp 2 in the low beam.

  First, the headlamp control unit 13 of the headlamp control device 10 determines the presence or absence of a pedestrian (step S1). Specifically, if the headlamp control unit 13 receives information indicating that a pedestrian has been detected from the pedestrian detection unit 11 (step S1: Yes), the process proceeds to step S2. If the information showing that the pedestrian is not detected is received (step S1: No), the headlamp control unit 13 returns to the beginning, and performs the process of step S1 again after a predetermined time has elapsed.

  Next, the headlamp control unit 13 acquires the direction of the pedestrian detected by the pedestrian direction detection unit 12 (step S2). The direction of the pedestrian is acquired as an angle θ formed with the direction of the vehicle 1 as described above.

  Next, the headlamp control unit 13 determines whether or not the pedestrian is facing backward (step S3). Specifically, as described above, it is determined whether or not the angle θ is equal to or smaller than the predetermined angle φ.

  If the angle θ exceeds the predetermined angle φ (step S3: No), it means that the pedestrian is facing the vehicle 1, and therefore the headlamp 2 is not switched to the high beam and the process returns to step S1.

  On the other hand, if the angle θ is equal to or smaller than the predetermined angle φ (step S3: Yes), since the pedestrian is facing backward with respect to the vehicle 1, the headlamp 2 is switched to the high beam (step S4).

  As described above, the headlamp control device 10 according to the present embodiment detects the pedestrian's orientation A and determines the pedestrian's orientation relative to the vehicle 1 based on the orientation A. In this way, by using the direction of the pedestrian, it is possible to determine whether or not the pedestrian is facing backward with respect to the vehicle 1.

  And the headlamp control apparatus 10 switches the headlamp 2 from a low beam to a high beam on condition that the direction of the pedestrian is not facing the vehicle 1. Thereby, the headlamp 2 can be switched to a high beam when the headlamp 2 does not enter the pedestrian's field of view. That is, the pedestrian is not dazzled by the light from the headlamp 2.

  Further, when the pedestrian is facing backward with respect to the vehicle 1, the conventional technology leaves the low beam without switching to the high beam, although there is no possibility that the light from the headlamps may dazzle the pedestrian.

  However, according to the headlamp control device 10 according to the present embodiment, the headlamp 2 is switched to the high beam in a situation where the pedestrian is not dazzled, so that the traveling time in the high beam is longer than in the conventional technique. This enables safer night driving.

  In the above-described headlamp control device 10, the case where one pedestrian is detected has been described, but the present invention is not limited to such a case. When a plurality of pedestrians are detected, the direction is detected for all the pedestrians, and the angle formed by the direction of each pedestrian and the direction of the vehicle 1 is calculated. And if all the pedestrians are facing backward with respect to the vehicle 1, the headlamp 2 is switched to a high beam. As a result, if even a single pedestrian is facing the vehicle 1, it is possible to control the headlamp 2 so as not to switch to the high beam.

  Further, detection of whether or not the pedestrian is facing backward, that is, whether or not the vehicle 1 is turned back, is performed based on whether or not the angle θ formed by the pedestrian's direction and the direction of the vehicle 1 is equal to or less than a predetermined angle φ. Not limited to cases. For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, when a human is detected, but each part of the face such as the eyes and nose cannot be detected in the part considered to be the head, it is determined that the pedestrian is facing backward. May be.

  In the headlight control device 10 according to the present embodiment, the presence or absence of a pedestrian and the orientation of the pedestrian are all detected by performing image processing on the image data obtained from the CCD camera 4. That is, if there is a CCD camera 4 and a program for processing this image data, the presence or absence of a pedestrian can be obtained. In the vehicle 1 having an imaging means such as the CCD camera 4, the CCD camera 4 can be used as it is, so that it is not necessary to newly install a special measuring device for obtaining the presence or absence of a pedestrian or the like. The present invention can be implemented.

  Moreover, although the pedestrian detection part 11 which detects a pedestrian by image processing was used as a pedestrian detection means, it is not restricted to such an aspect. For example, a laser radar device may be attached to the vehicle 1 and a pedestrian may be detected by this device.

  In the headlamp control device 10 according to the above-described embodiment, the process of switching to the high beam is performed under a predetermined condition on the assumption that the headlamp 2 is in the low beam state, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, if the lamp switch is in the AUTO position, the headlamp 2 is a high beam, and the pedestrian is facing the vehicle 1, that is, if the angle θ exceeds the predetermined angle φ, You may perform the process which switches the lighting 2 to a low beam.

<Embodiment 2>
In the first embodiment, the condition for switching the headlamp 2 to the high beam is whether or not the pedestrian orientation A is backward with respect to the vehicle 1, but is not limited thereto. Furthermore, the relative speed of the pedestrian with respect to the vehicle 1 may be used in combination.

  FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of the headlamp control apparatus 10A according to the present embodiment. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same thing as Embodiment 1, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

  The headlight control device 10 </ b> A according to the present embodiment includes a pedestrian distance detection unit (walking vehicle distance detection unit) 14 and a pedestrian relative speed detection unit (pedestrian relative speed detection unit) 15.

  The pedestrian distance detection unit 14 receives the image data transmitted from the CCD camera 4 and performs image processing on the image data, thereby detecting the pedestrian distance between the vehicle 1 and the pedestrian. This distance between pedestrians can be detected using a known measurement technique, for example, a so-called passive measurement technique such as a lens focus method or a stereo method.

  Specifically, in the case of the lens focusing method, a control signal is transmitted to the CCD camera 4 to obtain the image data when the focus is best from the obtained image data while driving the focus position of the lens. . The distance between the pedestrians of the CCD camera 4 (vehicle 1) and the pedestrian can be obtained from the focus position when the focus is best achieved.

  When the stereo method is used, image data from a plurality of CCD cameras 4 is sent to the pedestrian relative speed detection unit 15 by arranging one CCD camera 4 on each side of the front end of the vehicle 1 in the vehicle width direction. Configure to be sent. And the pedestrian relative speed detection part 15 can obtain | require the distance between pedestrians from these image data by the principle of triangulation.

  Furthermore, for example, a light source that emits light forward is attached to the vehicle 1, and an optical laser method that measures the distance between pedestrians by measuring the time until the light is reflected back to the pedestrians is used. You may detect the distance between pedestrians. In addition, a distance between pedestrians may be detected using a measuring device that performs so-called active measurement such as an active stereo method or an illuminance difference stereo method as a walking distance between vehicles.

The pedestrian relative speed detection unit 15 detects the relative speed of the pedestrian. Although the detection method of this relative speed is not specifically limited, For example, it can detect using the distance between pedestrians detected by the distance detection part 14 between pedestrians based on image data. Specifically, the pedestrian distance detection unit 14 acquires the pedestrian distance D _t1 based on the image data obtained at time t ₁ . Further, to obtain from the pedestrian distance detecting unit 14 pedestrian distance D _t2 based on the image data obtained in the subsequent time t _2. And the relative speed V of the pedestrian with respect to the vehicle 1 is calculated | required from following Formula.
_{V = (D t2 -D t1)} / (t 2 -t 1)

  Similarly to the first embodiment, the headlamp control unit 13 obtains the pedestrian orientation from the pedestrian orientation detection unit 12 and determines whether the pedestrian is facing backward. The headlamp control unit 13 determines whether the relative speed V of the pedestrian is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold when the pedestrian is facing backward, and the magnitude of the relative speed V is equal to the speed of the vehicle 1. If it is less than the size, the headlamp 2 is switched to a high beam.

  The process performed by the headlamp control device 10A described above will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the process of the headlamp control device 10A according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating the relative speed of the pedestrian with respect to the vehicle.

  First, as in the first embodiment, it is determined whether or not the pedestrian is facing backward based on the pedestrian orientation A (steps S1 to S3). If the pedestrian is facing backward (step S3: Yes), the headlamp control unit 13 acquires the pedestrian relative speed V from the pedestrian relative speed detection unit 15 (step S10).

Then, comparing the pedestrian relative velocity V and velocity _{V 0} which the vehicle 1 (step S11). The speed V _{0 of the} vehicle 1 is a numerical value obtained by a vehicle speed sensor.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8A, when the pedestrian 7 is facing the same traveling direction as the vehicle 1, the pedestrian 7 is facing the vehicle 1 backward. The relative speed to the vehicle 1 of the pedestrian 7 at this time is V _1. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8B, when the pedestrian 7 is facing in the opposite direction to the vehicle 1, the pedestrian 7 faces the vehicle 1. The relative speed to the vehicle 1 of the pedestrian 7 at this time is V _2.

For FIG. 8 (a), the pedestrian 7, since proceeding in the same direction of travel as the vehicle 1, the magnitude of the relative velocity V ₁ was smaller than the size of the vehicle speed V ₀ which the vehicle 1 (FIG. 8 (c )reference). If in FIG. 8 (b), the pedestrian 7, since proceeding in the opposite direction to the vehicle 1, the magnitude of the relative velocity V ₂ is greater than the magnitude of the vehicle speed V ₀ which the vehicle 1 (FIG. 8 (c) reference).

That is, returning to FIG. 7, if the pedestrian relative speed V ₁ is smaller than the speed V _{0 of the} vehicle 1 (step S11: Yes), it can be determined that the pedestrian is facing backward with respect to the vehicle 1. Moreover, pedestrian relative velocity V _2, greater than the speed V ₀ which the vehicle 1 (step S11: No), the pedestrian can be determined that for positive relative to the vehicle 1.

  Thus, the headlamp control unit 13 determines that the direction of the pedestrian is backward with respect to the vehicle 1 based on the face of the pedestrian recognized by the image processing (step S3: Yes), and When it is determined that the direction of the pedestrian is backward with respect to the vehicle 1 based on the pedestrian relative speed V (step S11: Yes), the headlamp 2 is switched to the high beam (step S12).

  Moreover, if the direction of the pedestrian faces the vehicle 1 based on the pedestrian relative speed V (step S11: No), the process returns to step S1. From step S3: Yes to step S11: No, the pedestrian's orientation angle θ falls within the predetermined threshold φ, but the pedestrian is actually walking in front of the vehicle 1 or a pedestrian. It is possible that the direction of is erroneously detected.

  As described above, the headlamp control unit 13 according to the present embodiment determines the pedestrian direction not only based on the pedestrian direction recognized by the image processing but also based on the relative speed of the pedestrian. To do. Thereby, it can be determined more reliably whether the direction of the pedestrian is facing the vehicle 1 or not.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle 2 Headlamp 3 Headlamp operation apparatus 4 Camera 5 Steering 6s, 6t Head 7 Pedestrian 10, 10A Headlamp control apparatus 11 Pedestrian detection part 12 Pedestrian direction detection part 13 Headlamp control part 14 Pedestrian distance detector 15 Pedestrian relative speed detector

Claims (5)

Headlamp control means for controlling switching between high beam and low beam of the vehicle headlamp;
Pedestrian detection means for detecting a pedestrian in front of the vehicle;
Pedestrian orientation detection means for detecting the orientation of the pedestrian by image processing the pedestrian image data imaged by the imaging means mounted on the vehicle,
The headlamp control means includes
When a pedestrian is detected by the pedestrian detection means,
A headlamp control apparatus, wherein the headlamp is switched from a low beam to a high beam on condition that the pedestrian orientation detected by the pedestrian orientation detection means is not directed to the vehicle. In the headlamp control device according to claim 1,
The headlamp control means includes
When a pedestrian is detected by the pedestrian detection means,
The headlamp is switched from a low beam to a high beam on condition that an angle formed by the pedestrian direction detected by the pedestrian direction detection means and the vehicle direction is equal to or less than a predetermined angle set in advance. Headlamp control device. In the headlamp control device according to claim 2,
The predetermined angle is a boundary angle at which the headlamp enters the pedestrian's field of view when the direction of the pedestrian exceeds the predetermined angle. In the headlamp control device according to claim 2 or claim 3,
When the pedestrian detection means detects a plurality of pedestrians,
The headlamp control means switches the headlamp from a low beam to a high beam on the condition that the angle formed by the direction of each pedestrian and the direction of the vehicle is equal to or less than the predetermined angle. Lighting control device. In the headlamp control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A walking inter-vehicle distance detecting means for detecting an inter-pedestrian distance between the vehicle and the pedestrian by performing image processing on image data of the preceding vehicle imaged by an imaging means mounted on the vehicle;
Relative speed detection means for detecting a relative speed with the pedestrian by calculating a change amount of the distance between pedestrians detected by the pedestrian distance detection means in a predetermined time,
The headlamp control means includes
The angle formed by the pedestrian direction detected by the pedestrian direction detection means and the direction of the vehicle is equal to or smaller than a predetermined angle set in advance, and the magnitude of the relative speed detected by the relative speed detection means is The headlamp control device according to claim 1, wherein the headlamp is switched from a low beam to a high beam on condition that the speed of the vehicle is equal to or smaller than a speed of the vehicle.

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