JP2014004913A - Lighting fixture system for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lighting fixture system for a vehicle capable of surely recognizing an obstacle existing in front of a lighting fixture by using a light source unit and imaging means of a lighting fixture for a vehicle.SOLUTION: A lighting fixture system for a vehicle 100 includes a light source unit 10, imaging means 2 for imaging the front of the lighting fixture, and a control part 3 for controlling the light source unit 10 and the imaging means 2. The control part 3 images a lighting image B when the light source unit 10 is lighted and a non-lighting image A when the light source unit 10 is not lighted by the imaging means 2, and determines that an obstacle 200 exists in front of the lighting fixture when the lighting image B does not coincide with the non-lighting image A.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular lamp system including a light source unit and imaging means.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a vehicle driving support device for detecting the presence of an obstacle in front of a vehicle and alerting the driver.
As an example of such a driving support device, Patent Document 1 discloses a driving for recognizing an obstacle ahead of a vehicle by a stereo camera mounted on the own vehicle and estimating a collision possibility between the own vehicle and the obstacle. A support device is described.
Patent Document 2 includes a radar unit that transmits a radar wave toward the front of the vehicle and receives a reflected wave from the front of the vehicle, and an infrared camera that images the front of the vehicle with infrared light. A driving support device that detects the distance to an object in front of the vehicle and the shape of the object using an outside camera is described.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-117341 JP 2008-230333 A

  In the case of the driving support device described in Patent Document 1, there is a situation where an obstacle cannot be recognized only by imaging the front of the vehicle with a stereo camera. In general, in a stereo camera, a captured image is binarized in black and white to detect an edge, thereby recognizing the shape of the obstacle and the distance to the obstacle. However, when the obstacle is a monochromatic wall or glass window larger than the imaging area of the stereo camera, the binarized processing of the captured image results in no contrast and the edge cannot be detected. Therefore, there is a possibility that the presence of the obstacle cannot be recognized.

  In addition, in the driving support device of Patent Document 2, it is necessary to mount a radar unit that recognizes an obstacle by transmitting and receiving radar waves and reflected waves separately from the light source unit of the vehicle lamp. Cost increases.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular lamp system capable of reliably recognizing an obstacle existing in front of the lamp by using an existing light source unit and imaging means of the vehicular lamp.

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object,
A light source unit;
Imaging means for imaging the front of the lamp;
A control unit for controlling the light source unit and the imaging means;
With
The control unit causes the imaging unit to capture a lighting image when the light source unit is in a lighting state and a non-lighting image when the light source unit is in a non-lighting state, and the lighting image and the non-lighting image. Provided is a vehicular lamp system that determines that there is an obstacle in front of a lamp when they are inconsistent.
According to this configuration, the obstacle can be reliably recognized by irradiating the front of the lamp with the light source unit and capturing the reflected light generated when the obstacle exists in front of the lamp by the imaging unit.

According to the present invention, in the vehicle lamp system described above, the control unit may turn on the light source unit instantaneously so that the driver does not sense the lighting of the light source unit when the lighting image is captured. Good.
According to this configuration, it is possible to determine the presence or absence of an obstacle in front of the lamp without causing the driver to feel uncomfortable.

According to the present invention, in the above vehicle lamp system, the light source unit may include a semiconductor light emitting element.
According to this configuration, by using a semiconductor element capable of instantaneous lighting, it is possible to further suppress the uncomfortable feeling felt by the driver.

According to the present invention, in the vehicle lamp system described above, the light source unit may be capable of forming a low beam light distribution pattern or a high beam light distribution pattern.
According to this configuration, it is possible to easily detect the presence or absence of an obstacle by capturing reflected light reflected from an obstacle using a low-beam light distribution pattern or a high-beam light distribution pattern used when a vehicle lamp is turned on. Judgment can be made.

According to the present invention, in the vehicle lamp system described above, the control unit may determine the presence or absence of the obstacle by capturing the lighting image and the non-lighting image when the vehicle starts.
According to this configuration, it is possible to prevent the vehicle from starting erroneously and to ensure safety by determining the presence or absence of an obstacle in front of the lamp when starting the vehicle.

  According to the vehicular lamp system according to the present invention, an obstacle can be reliably recognized, and a system for recognizing an obstacle with an inexpensive configuration is realized by using an existing vehicular lamp and an imaging unit. can do.

It is a front view of the vehicle carrying the vehicle lamp system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the said vehicle lamp system. In the said vehicle lamp system, it is a figure which shows the case where a light source unit is turned on and a non-lighting image and a lighting image are imaged. (A) is a figure which shows the non-lighting image imaged with the camera sensor, (b) is a figure which shows the lighting image imaged with the camera sensor.

  Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In each drawing, the scale is appropriately changed to make each member a recognizable size.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a vehicular lamp system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a pair of headlamp units 1 provided at left and right front ends of a vehicle, and a windshield provided at a front end of a vehicle interior. And a control unit 3 (see FIG. 2) that controls the headlamp unit 1 and the camera sensor 2.

  The headlamp unit 1 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of (here, three each on the left and right) headlamps 10 (an example of a light source unit) that can form a low-beam light distribution pattern and a high-beam light distribution pattern. I have.

  The camera sensor 2 is provided inside the windshield, for example, on the back side of the rearview mirror, and captures an image in front of the vehicle illuminated by the light from the headlamp unit 1. As the camera sensor 2, for example, an in-vehicle camera used in an Auto Hi Beam (AHB) system that automatically switches between a low beam light distribution pattern and a high beam light distribution pattern can be used.

  The imaging range of the camera sensor 2 is desirably a wide range including an irradiation area of the low beam light distribution pattern and the high beam light distribution pattern in an area in front of the vehicle. Note that the angle of view of the camera sensor 2 can be ± 40 ° to the left and right, for example.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the vehicular lamp system 100, and shows the structure of the headlamp unit 1 cut from a vertical plane and viewed from the left side.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the headlamp unit 1 includes a lamp body 11 having an opening at the front, and a transparent outer cover 12 attached so as to cover the opening of the lamp body 11. In this example, the front is the outer cover 12 side (left direction in FIG. 2) in the headlamp unit 1, and the rear is the lamp body 11 side (right direction in FIG. 2) opposite to the front. is there.

  The outer cover 12 is fixed and attached to the lamp body 11 by bonding. By attaching the outer cover 12 to the lamp body 11, a sealed lamp chamber S is formed inside the headlamp unit 1.

  The headlamp 10 is disposed in the lamp chamber S, and includes a projection lens 20, a first optical system 21, and a second optical system 22. The projection lens 20 has an optical axis Ax in the vehicle front-rear direction, and a first optical system 21 and a second optical system 22 are disposed behind the projection lens 20.

  The projection lens 20 has a planar incident surface 20a on the rear side and a convex lens surface 20b on the front side. The projection lens 20 collects light incident from the incident surface 20a and emits the light from the lens surface 20b.

  A first support plate 26 is supported on the rear plate 11a of the lamp body 11 by bolts 25a and 25b. A second support plate 27 is formed integrally with the first support plate 26. The second support plate 27 extends substantially horizontally along the optical axis Ax in the vehicle longitudinal direction and is disposed between the first optical system 21 and the second optical system 22. The tip of the second support plate 27 functions as a light shielding member 28. The light shielding member 28 has a function as a shade for forming a cut-off line in the light distribution pattern.

  The first optical system 21 is an optical system that forms a low beam light distribution pattern, and includes a first semiconductor light emitting element 31 and a first reflector 32. The first semiconductor light emitting element 31 is made of a light emitting diode (LED), and is fixed to the upper surface of the second support plate 27 and emits light substantially upward. The first reflector 32 has an inner surface composed of a free-form surface based on an ellipsoid, and reflects light from the first semiconductor light emitting element 31 forward and toward the optical axis Ax to be behind the projection lens 20. Converge to the vicinity of the focal point F.

  The second optical system 22 is an optical system that forms a high-beam light distribution pattern together with the first optical system 21, and includes a second semiconductor light emitting element 35 and a second reflector 36. The second semiconductor light emitting element 35 is made of an LED, and is fixed to the lower surface of the second support plate 27 and emits light substantially downward. The second reflector 36 has an inner surface that is a free-form surface based on an ellipsoidal surface, reflects light from the second semiconductor light emitting element 35 forward and toward the optical axis Ax, and is behind the projection lens 20. Converge to the vicinity of the focal point F.

  In the headlamp 10 having the above configuration, only the first optical system 21 is turned on when the low beam distribution pattern is formed in front of the vehicle. Further, when the high beam light distribution pattern is formed in front of the vehicle, the first optical system 21 and the second optical system 22 are turned on.

The control unit 3 is electrically connected to the first semiconductor light emitting element 31 of the first optical system 21 and the second semiconductor light emitting element 35 of the second optical system 22 through the control line 40 so as to be communicable. The control unit 3 is electrically connected to the camera sensor 2 via the image processing unit 4 so as to be communicable.
Image data photographed by the camera sensor 2 is subjected to predetermined image processing such as obstacle recognition processing by the image processing unit 4 and provided to the control unit 3.

  At least a part of the control unit 3 is configured by a combination of hardware such as an element such as a computer processor and memory, a mechanical device and an electric circuit, and software such as a computer program. The control unit 3 includes a CPU that executes various control programs, a ROM that stores the programs, a RAM that is used as a work area for data storage and program execution, and performs various controls in the vehicle. Can do.

  Next, control of the camera sensor 2, the first optical system 21, and the second optical system 22 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, when receiving a signal indicating the start of the vehicle, the control unit 3 repeats ON / OFF of a camera shutter (not shown) twice with respect to the camera sensor 2 to generate two pieces of image data. A control command is transmitted so that At this time, the shutter opening times t1 and t2 of the camera sensor 2 are preferably 30 msec or less, respectively.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 3B, the control unit 3 instantaneously moves the headlamp 10 so that the driver does not sense the lighting of the headlamp 10 within the shutter opening time t2 of the camera shutter. Light up. However, it is necessary to set the lighting time t3 of the headlamp 10 so that the camera sensor 2 can recognize the image reflected from the obstacle during the shutter opening time.
The headlamp 10 lights only the first semiconductor light-emitting element 31 or the first semiconductor light-emitting element 31 and the second semiconductor light-emitting element 35 so that the low-beam light distribution pattern or the high-beam light used when the vehicle travels. A light distribution pattern can be formed.

  As shown in FIG. 3C, when an obstacle exists in front of the vehicle, reflected light L (see FIG. 4B) is generated by the light emitted from the headlamp 10. Therefore, the reflected light L can be captured by an image acquired within the shutter opening time t2.

  In this way, the camera sensor 2 can capture the non-lighted image A when the headlamp 10 is turned off and the lit image B when the headlamp 10 is turned on. .

  Next, the non-lighted image A and the lighted image B captured by the camera sensor 2 are subjected to predetermined image processing by the image processing unit 4. Thereafter, the control unit 3 receives the image data of the non-lighted image A and the lighted image B that have been subjected to image processing.

  The control unit 3 compares the received non-lighted image A with the lighted image B, and determines that there is an obstacle ahead of the headlamp 10 when the non-lighted image A and the lighted image B do not match. .

4A shows a non-lighted image A when the headlamp 10 is turned off, and FIG. 4B shows a turned-on image B when the headlight 10 is turned on. Yes. 4A and 4B show a situation where an obstacle (here, the parking pole 200) is present on the white line A indicating the boundary of the parking position in front of the vehicle. Yes.
When there is an obstacle in front of the vehicle, reflected light L from the obstacle is generated by turning on the headlamp 10, as shown in FIG. Therefore, in the lighting image B, an image capturing the reflected light L is captured, and the non-lighting image A and the lighting image B are inconsistent images.
On the other hand, when there is no obstacle in front of the vehicle, the reflected light L is not generated even if the headlamp 10 is turned on, so the non-lighted image A and the lighted image B are images that match.

  Whether the non-lighted image A and the lighted image B coincide with each other is determined by comparing the image-processed non-lighted image A and the lighted image B, for example, the difference in brightness between the non-lighted image A and the lighted image B Can be determined based on whether or not is within a preset range. Moreover, the position of the obstacle in the area ahead of the vehicle can also be recognized by dividing the image data to be captured into a plurality of areas and comparing the brightness difference between the areas.

  When it is determined that there is an obstacle in front of the headlamp 10, the control unit 3 may be configured to notify the driver of the presence of the obstacle by a predetermined warning means. Moreover, you may issue a command to the drive control part of a vehicle so that the start of a vehicle may be prohibited temporarily.

  The timing for controlling the vehicular lamp system 100 according to the present embodiment is preferably when the vehicle starts, that is, when the engine is started and the shift position is switched from the parking position to the drive position or the neutral position. However, it can also be performed at a timing such as when the shift position is switched to the reverse position or when the accelerator pedal is depressed.

According to the vehicle lamp system 100 according to the present embodiment described above, the headlamp 10 is turned on, and the reflected light L generated when there is an obstacle in front of the vehicle is captured by the camera sensor 2 and controlled. By determining the presence of the obstacle in the section 3, the obstacle can be recognized with certainty.
In particular, in the present embodiment, even when the obstacle is a monochromatic wall or glass window larger than the imaging area of the camera sensor 2, the non-lighted image is obtained by capturing the reflected light L from the obstacle. It can be determined that A and the lighting image B are inconsistent images. For this reason, it is possible to reliably recognize an obstacle that is difficult to recognize only by imaging with the camera sensor 2.

  Further, according to the vehicle lamp system 100 described above, it is not necessary to mount a radar unit, an infrared sensor, or the like separately from the light source unit of the vehicle lamp, and the headlamp 10 used in an AHB system or the like. And the camera sensor 2 can be used to construct a system that recognizes the presence of an obstacle ahead of the vehicle. Therefore, it is possible to avoid an increase in the number of parts and production costs associated with the installation of a new device.

  Further, when the obstacle is a parking pole 200 as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b), for example, the obstacle is present in a narrow place in the imaging range of the camera sensor 2, as in the conventional case. Even if the radar unit is used, there is a possibility that the parking pole 200 does not enter the scanning range of the radar and the presence of the parking pole 200 cannot be recognized. Even in such a case, according to the present embodiment, the reflected light L from the parking pole 200 can be captured and it can be determined that the non-lighting image A and the lighting image B are inconsistent. Recognize existence reliably.

  Further, according to the vehicle lamp system 100 described above, the driver 10 instantaneously lights the headlamp 10 so that the driver does not sense the lighting of the headlamp 10 when the lighting image B is captured. It is possible to determine the presence or absence of an obstacle in front of the vehicle without giving a sense of incongruity to the vehicle.

  Furthermore, according to the vehicle lamp system 100 described above, the control unit 3 captures the lit image B and the non-lit image A when starting the vehicle, and determines the presence or absence of an obstacle. Can be prevented and safety can be ensured.

  Although an example of an embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and other configurations can be adopted as necessary.

For example, in the above embodiment, the vehicle lamp system 100 is configured by the headlamp unit 1 provided in the front of the vehicle and the camera sensor 2 that images the front of the vehicle, but the stop provided in the rear of the vehicle. A vehicular lamp system may be configured by a marker lamp such as a lamp or a tail lamp and a camera sensor that images the rear of the vehicle. According to this configuration, an obstacle behind the vehicle can be reliably recognized.
Instead of the headlamp unit 1, a turn signal lamp or a daytime running lamp may be lit.

  In the above embodiment, the camera sensor 2 is provided on the inner side of the windshield and on the rear side of the rear-view mirror. It may be provided.

  In addition, as the camera sensor 2, an Adaptive Driving Beam (ADB) system that partially blocks the irradiation light in front so that a high beam is not directly applied to the detected preceding vehicle or oncoming vehicle, or the vehicle will deviate from the lane. A Lane Departure Warning (LDW) system that issues an audible or tactile warning to the driver before a vehicle is stopped, a forward collision warning (FCW) system that issues a warning when an obstacle such as a preceding vehicle approaches in front of the vehicle, etc. May be used. Both systems are well known as using a camera sensor for image recognition mounted on a vehicle.

  In the above embodiment, the headlamp 10 including the first semiconductor light emitting element 31 and the second semiconductor light emitting element 35 is used. However, the first semiconductor light emitting element 31 and the plurality of semiconductor light emitting elements are arranged in an array. It is good also as a structure used in combination with the LED array arrange | positioned. By combining the first semiconductor light emitting element 31 and the LED array, a high beam light distribution pattern is formed. Since the LED array also uses a semiconductor light emitting element as a light source, it can be turned on instantaneously so as not to give the driver a sense of incongruity.

Further, only the first semiconductor light emitting element 31 of the first semiconductor light emitting element 31 and the second semiconductor light emitting element 35 is provided, and a rotary shade is provided in the vicinity of the rear focal point F between the projection lens 20 and the reflector 32. Also good. The rotary shade is rotatably supported and includes a low beam light distribution pattern forming unit and a high beam light distribution pattern forming unit, so that the light passing near the rear focal point F is partially blocked. A low beam light distribution pattern and a high beam light distribution pattern can be formed.
In order to avoid the uncomfortable feeling given to the driver, it is preferable to use the semiconductor light emitting elements 31, 35 and the LED array that can be turned on and off instantaneously, but instead, an incandescent bulb, a halogen lamp, a discharge bulb is used. Etc. may be used.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, the non-lighting image A when the headlamp 10 is made into a non-lighting state is imaged first, and then the lighting image B when the headlight 10 is turned on is picked up. However, the order of imaging is not limited to this, and the lighting image B may be captured first, and the non-lighting image A may be captured later.

  Furthermore, in the said embodiment, although it is set as the structure which controls the camera sensor 2, the 1st optical system 21, and the 2nd optical system 22 by the control part 3, it is set as the 1st optical system in the lamp chamber S of the lamp unit 20. A lamp control unit that controls the first optical system 21 and the second optical system 22 may be provided to control the first optical system 21 and the second optical system 22 through operation cooperation between the control unit 3 and the lamp control unit.

1: headlamp unit, 2: camera sensor (imaging means), 3: control unit, 4: image processing unit, 10: headlamp (light source unit), 20: projection lens, 21: first optical system, 22 : Second optical system, 31: first semiconductor light emitting element, 35: second semiconductor light emitting element, 100: vehicle lamp system, 200: parking pole (obstacle), L: reflected light

Claims (5)

A light source unit;
Imaging means for imaging the front of the lamp;
A control unit for controlling the light source unit and the imaging means;
With
The control unit causes the imaging unit to capture a lighting image when the light source unit is in a lighting state and a non-lighting image when the light source unit is in a non-lighting state, and the lighting image and the non-lighting image. A vehicle lamp system that determines that there is an obstacle in front of the lamp when they are inconsistent.   The vehicular lamp system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit momentarily lights the light source unit so that a driver does not sense the lighting of the light source unit when the lighting image is captured.   The vehicular lamp system according to claim 1, wherein the light source unit includes a semiconductor light emitting element.   4. The vehicular lamp system according to claim 1, wherein the light source unit is capable of forming a low beam light distribution pattern or a high beam light distribution pattern. 5.   The vehicular lamp system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the control unit determines whether or not the obstacle is present by capturing the lighting image and the non-lighting image when the vehicle starts.