JP2020138593A - Light distribution control device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a light distribution control device capable of suppressing a sense of incongruity based on reflected light from a reflecting member.SOLUTION: A light distribution control device 1 includes: a camera 10 which images the front of a vehicle; a shape recognition unit 21 which executes a shape recognition process at least within a light irradiation range by a headlight 30 from image data obtained by imaging with the camera 10; and a light distribution control unit 23 which, when it is determined that the shape recognized by the shape recognition unit 21 corresponds to a specific object such as a predetermined sign or a delineator, shades or reduces light in a predetermined range including the specific object.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a light distribution control device.

Conventionally, there have been proposed vehicle lighting fixtures that change the clarity of the light-dark boundary line of light distribution formed by headlights according to the traveling environment of the vehicle (see, for example, Patent Document 1). According to this vehicle lighting tool, it is possible to reduce the visual discomfort by adjusting the intelligibility.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2017-206094

Here, on the road or the like, a reflective member (sign, delineator, etc.) that reflects the light from the headlight and gives the driver a sense of discomfort is installed. The discomfort caused by such a reflective member cannot be alleviated by the vehicle lighting equipment described in Patent Document 1.

The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a light distribution control device capable of suppressing a sense of discomfort due to the reflected light from a reflecting member. is there.

The present invention executes shape recognition processing at least within the light irradiation range of the headlight among the image data obtained by imaging by the imaging means, and determines that the recognized shape corresponds to a predetermined specific object. In that case, the predetermined range including the specific object is shaded or dimmed.

According to the present invention, when it is determined that the recognized shape corresponds to a predetermined specific object, the light is reflected from the headlight to cause a sense of discomfort in order to block or dimm the predetermined range including the specific object. By specifying the reflective member that gives the light, it is possible to suppress a sense of discomfort due to the reflected light from the reflective member.

It is a block diagram which shows the light distribution control device which concerns on this embodiment. It is the schematic which shows an example of the control method of the light distribution control apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the control method of the light distribution control device which concerns on this embodiment.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to preferred embodiments. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown below, and can be appropriately modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Further, in the embodiments shown below, some parts of the configuration are omitted from the illustration and description, but the details of the omitted technology are within a range that does not conflict with the contents described below. Needless to say, publicly known or well-known techniques are appropriately applied.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a light distribution control device according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the light distribution control device 1 suppresses the discomfort given to the driver due to the reflection of the light from the headlight 30, and includes the camera (imaging means) 10 and the control unit. 20 and a headlight 30 are provided.

The camera 10 captures the front of the own vehicle. The camera 10 is composed of, for example, a CCD or CMOS camera. The camera 10 transmits the image data obtained by imaging to the control unit 20.

The control unit 20 is composed of, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) mounted on a vehicle ECU or the like, and has a shape recognition unit (shape recognition means) 21, a shape storage unit 22, and a light distribution control unit (light distribution control means). ) 23 and.

The shape recognition unit 21 recognizes the shape of an object from the image data obtained by imaging with the camera 10. The shape recognition unit 21 executes the shape recognition process at least within the light irradiation range of the headlight 30 in the image data. The shape recognition unit 21 performs edge detection by, for example, binarizing image data, and recognizes the shape of an object or the like from the obtained edges.

The shape storage unit 22 stores the shape of a specific object that is determined in advance to reflect the light from the headlight 30 to give the driver a sense of discomfort. Specifically, the shape storage unit 22 stores the shapes of the sign, the delineator, and the like in advance.

The light distribution control unit 23 determines whether the shape recognized by the shape recognition unit 21 corresponds to a specific object stored by the shape storage unit 22. The light distribution control unit 23 determines whether or not the recognized shape is a specific object by using a known technique such as template matching.

The headlight 30 irradiates light toward the front of the vehicle, and includes a light emitting element 31 as a light source and a polarizing unit 32. The polarizing unit 32 employs MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems), DMD (Digital Mirror Device), or the like that controls a plurality of fine mirrors. The headlight 30 may block or dim a part of the headlight distribution by controlling the lighting duty and lighting time of the light emitting element 31 and mirror control such as MEMS or DMD. It is a structure that can be done.

Further, when the light distribution control unit 23 determines that the recognized shape corresponds to a specific object, the light distribution control unit 23 executes a process of shading or dimming a predetermined range (a part of the light irradiation range) including the specific object. .. In this process, the light distribution control unit 23 controls the value of the current supplied to the light emitting element 31, for example, or appropriately operates a plurality of fine mirrors to perform shading or dimming.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an example of a control method of the light distribution control device 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, for example, it is assumed that the marker SI is included in the light irradiation range LR of the headlight 30. In this case, the shape recognition unit 21 recognizes the shape of the marker SI from the image data obtained by the image pickup of the camera 10.

Next, the light distribution control unit 23 determines whether the shape recognized by the shape recognition unit 21 corresponds to the specific object stored in the shape storage unit 22. Here, the shape of the marker SI is stored in the shape storage unit 22 as a specific object. Therefore, the light distribution control unit 23 determines that the recognized shape is a specific object (labeled SI), and blocks or dims the predetermined range PR including the labeled SI.

Here, when the light distribution control unit 23 cannot specify what kind of object the shape recognized by the shape recognition unit 21 is, it is preferable that the specific range including the shape is shaded or dimmed. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, it is assumed that a puddle P exists on the road surface. Since the shape of the puddle P is not specified and the shape is various and the outline tends to be unclear, it is difficult to specify what kind of object it is by the processing of the control unit 20. On the other hand, since the puddle P acts like a mirror surface, the light from the headlight 30 is easily reflected like the marker SI and the delineator.

Therefore, the light distribution control unit 23 determines that such a shape is a puddle P or the like, and since it is a reflection target of the headlight 30, the specific range SR including this shape is shaded or dimmed. The same applies not only to the puddle P but also to snowy roads and the like.

Further, it is preferable that the control unit 20 inputs a signal from the vehicle and does not execute the processing by the shape recognition unit 21 and the light distribution control unit 23 when a specific condition is not satisfied. For example, when the control unit 20 is not at night, when the headlight 30 is not lit, or when the vehicle speed is not within a predetermined speed range (for example, 30 km / h or more and 80 km / h or less), the shape recognition unit 21 and It is preferable that the processing by the light distribution control unit 23 is not executed. This is because unnecessary processing can be prevented from being executed.

Further, it is preferable that the light distribution control unit 23 includes a determining means for determining whether to block light or reduce light. In this case, for example, the shape storage unit 22 stores information on whether to block light or dimming for each specific object, and the determining means determines whether to block light or dimming according to this information. It may be. Further, the determining means may be to dimming the light when the own vehicle keeps the current running for a predetermined time and causing a traffic violation, and to block the light when the vehicle does not. For example, when the own vehicle tries to enter a road of 40 km / h from a road having a speed limit of 60 km / h, when the speed of the own vehicle is 50 km / h, the sign portion of 40 km / h is dimmed and the own vehicle is used. When the speed of 40 km / h, the marked portion of 40 km / h may be shielded from light.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing details of the control method of the light distribution control device 1 according to the present embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 3 is repeatedly executed until the vehicle power is turned off.

As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 20 first inputs a vehicle signal (S1). Next, the control unit 20 determines whether the conditions for executing the processes after step S3 are satisfied (S2). In this process, the control unit 20 determines whether the conditions are satisfied by determining that the current time is nighttime, the headlight 30 is currently lit, the vehicle speed is within a predetermined speed range, and the like.

If the condition is not satisfied (S2: NO), the process proceeds to step S1. On the other hand, when the condition is satisfied (S2: YES), the camera 10 takes an image (S3). Next, the shape recognition unit 21 executes the shape recognition process at least within the light irradiation range LR of the headlight 30 among the image data obtained by the imaging in step S3 (S4).

Next, the light distribution control unit 23 determines whether the shape recognized in step S4 corresponds to a specific object (marker, delineator, etc.) stored by the shape storage unit 22 (S5). When the recognized shape corresponds to a specific object (S5: YES), the light distribution control unit 23 shades or dims the predetermined range PR including the specific object (S7). After that, the process proceeds to step S1.

On the other hand, when the recognized shape does not correspond to the specific object (S5: NO), the light distribution control unit 23 determines whether the object can be specified based on the recognized shape (S6). That is, the shape storage unit 22 also stores the shape of an object other than the specific object, and the light distribution control unit 23 stores the object stored as something other than the specific object (an object having no discomfort due to reflection or no discomfort). It will be judged whether it is applicable.

If the object can be identified based on the recognized shape (S6: YES), the process proceeds to step S1. If the object cannot be identified based on the recognized shape (S6: NO), the shape may be a shape such as a puddle P, so the light distribution control unit 23 has a specific range including the shape. The SR is shaded or dimmed (S7). After that, the process proceeds to step S1.

In this way, according to the light distribution control device 1 according to the present embodiment, when it is determined that the recognized shape corresponds to a predetermined specific object, the predetermined range including the specific object is shaded or dimmed. Therefore, by designating a reflective member that gives a sense of discomfort when light is reflected from the headlight 30, it is possible to suppress a sense of discomfort due to the reflected light from the reflective member.

In addition, when an object cannot be identified based on the recognized shape, in order to block or dimme a specific range including the shape, for example, reflected light from a headlight 30 such as a water pool P or a snowy road. In addition, the target area whose shape is not fixed is also shaded or dimmed, and the discomfort due to the reflected light can be further suppressed.

Although the present invention has been described above based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. A known / well-known technique may be combined.

For example, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, an example of shading or dimming when the entire labeled SI or water pool P fits within the light irradiation range LR has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the labeled SI or water pool P is not limited to this. When only a part of the light is within the light irradiation range LR, the light may be blocked or dimmed.

1: Light distribution control device 10: Camera (imaging means)
20: Control unit 21: Shape recognition unit (shape recognition means)
22: Shape storage unit 23: Light distribution control unit (light distribution control means)
30: Headlight 31: Light emitting element 32: Polarizing part LR: Light irradiation range P: Puddle PR: Predetermined range SI: Label SR: Specific range

Claims (2)

An imaging means that images the front of the vehicle,
Of the image data obtained by imaging by the imaging means, a shape recognition means that executes shape recognition processing at least within the light irradiation range of the headlight, and
When it is determined that the shape recognized by the shape recognition means corresponds to a predetermined specific object, a light distribution control means that blocks or dims a predetermined range including the specific object, and
A light distribution control device characterized by comprising. The first aspect of the present invention, wherein the light distribution control means blocks or dims a specific range including the shape when the object cannot be specified based on the shape recognized by the shape recognition means. Light distribution control device.

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