JP2020138705A - Light emission control device and light emission control method - Google Patents

Abstract

To let recognize a position of a switch.SOLUTION: A light emission control device 1 includes a state determination unit 121 for determining whether or not a headlight 4 provided in front of a vehicle is turned on, an environment specification unit 122 for specifying the peripheral environment of the vehicle, a state determination unit 123 for determining whether or nor the headlight 4 should be turned on based on the peripheral environment specified by the environment specification unit 122, and a light emission control unit 124 for making a light emitting unit 5 provided on a light operation unit for operating the turning-on and turning-off of the light emit light when it is determined that the headlight 4 is not turned on by the state determination unit 121 and it is determined that the headlight 4 should be turned on by the state determination unit 123.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a light emission control device and a light emission control method.

The vehicle is provided with a switch for operating the light (for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-273309

The position of the switch that operates the light of the vehicle may differ depending on the vehicle type of the vehicle. A driver who drives a vehicle may not know where the switch is when driving a vehicle of a vehicle type with a different switch position.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for recognizing the position of a switch.

In the first aspect of the present invention, a state determination unit for determining whether or not a light provided in front of the vehicle is lit, an environment identification unit for specifying the surrounding environment of the vehicle, and the environment identification unit The situation determination unit that determines whether or not the light is turned on based on the surrounding environment specified by the above, and the state determination unit determines that the light is not lit, and the situation determination unit determines that the light is not lit. Provided is a light emission control device including a light emission control unit for emitting light of a light emitting unit provided in the light operation unit for operating the extinguishing of the light when it is determined that the light is turned on.

For example, the light emission control unit stops the light emission of the light emitting unit when the light operation unit performs an operation of turning on the light.

For example, when the situation determination unit determines that the light is not turned on and the state determination unit determines that the light is on, the light emission control unit causes the light emission unit to emit light.

For example, the light emitting control unit causes the light emitting unit to emit light in a light emitting mode corresponding to the lighting state of the light determined according to the surrounding environment.

For example, the situation determination unit identifies which of the plurality of lights provided in front of the vehicle is to be turned on, based on the surrounding environment specified by the environment identification unit. The light emitting control unit emits light in a light emitting mode associated with the light specified by the situation determination unit.

In the second aspect of the present invention, a step executed by a computer mounted on the vehicle to determine whether or not a light provided in front of the vehicle is lit and a step of specifying the surrounding environment of the vehicle are specified. A step, a step of determining whether or not the light is turned on based on the specified surrounding environment, a determination that the light is turned on, and a determination that the light is not turned on. In this case, the present invention provides a light emission control method including a step of causing a light emitting unit provided in a light operation unit to operate the extinguishing of the light.

According to the present invention, there is an effect that the position of the switch can be recognized.

It is a figure for demonstrating the outline of embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the vehicle which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart of the process which makes a light emitting part emit light. It is a flowchart of light emission control processing.

[Light emission control device as a premise in this embodiment]
First, a light emission control device that is a prerequisite in the present embodiment will be described. The light emission control device is mounted on the vehicle and controls the lighting state of a plurality of lights provided in front of the vehicle. The plurality of lights provided in front of the vehicle are headlights, small lamps and fog lamps. The light emission control device controls the lighting state of a plurality of lights based on the operation performed by the driver who drives the vehicle in the light operation unit for operating the lighting of the lights. The driver can turn on or off the headlight, the small lamp, or the fog lamp by performing a predetermined operation in the light operation unit.

Further, the light emission control device has an automatic control function for automatically controlling the extinguishing and extinguishing of the light. When the light operation unit performs an operation to enable the automatic control function, the light emission control device automatically turns on or off the light based on the surrounding environment of the vehicle. The light emission control device does not automatically control the light when an operation for disabling the automatic control function is performed in the light operation unit.

[Overview of the light emission control device according to this embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an outline of an embodiment. FIG. 1 schematically shows a steering peripheral portion provided in the driver's seat of a vehicle. The light switch 2 is a light operation unit for the driver to operate the extinguishing of the light provided in front of the vehicle.

The position of the light switch 2 may differ depending on the vehicle type of the vehicle. A driver who drives a vehicle having a different position of the light switch 2 may not know where the light switch 2 is located. In particular, it is difficult for the driver to recognize the position of the light switch 2 at night when it is necessary to turn on the light or in the dark such as in a tunnel.

Therefore, the light emission control device according to the present embodiment causes the light emitting unit 5 provided in the light switch 2 to emit light when the light is not turned on and the light is turned on. By doing so, the light emission control device can make the driver recognize the position of the light switch 2 in the darkness or the like where it is necessary to turn on the light.

[Configuration of light emission control device 1]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle V according to the present embodiment. The vehicle V has a light emission control device 1, a light switch 2, an illuminance sensor 3, a headlight 4, and a light emitting unit 5.

The light switch 2 has a shaft portion and a rotating portion. The rotating portion is provided at the tip of the shaft portion. The driver can turn on or off the headlight, the small lamp, or the fog lamp by performing an operation of rotating the rotating portion.

The illuminance sensor 3 is a sensor that acquires the illuminance indicating the brightness around the vehicle V as information indicating the surrounding environment of the vehicle V. The vehicle V may have a sensor for acquiring other information indicating the brightness around the vehicle V, such as a brightness sensor or a luminous intensity sensor, instead of the illuminance sensor 3. The headlight 4 is a light that illuminates the front of the vehicle V.

The light emitting unit 5 has, for example, an LED (light emitting diode). The light emitting unit 5 is provided at a position that can be visually recognized by the driver. For example, the light emitting unit 5 is provided at the tip of the rotating unit of the light switch 2 so that the position of the light emitting unit 5 does not change even if the driver rotates the light switch 2.

The light emitting unit 5 is provided, for example, in a rotating unit within a range that the driver can see over an angle range in which the rotating unit can rotate. The light emitting unit 5 may be configured so that the entire rotating unit emits light. By doing so, the position of the light switch 2 can be recognized even if the driver rotates the rotating portion. The light emitting unit 5 may be provided on the shaft portion of the light switch 2.

The light emission control device 1 includes a storage unit 11 and a control unit 12. The storage unit 11 is, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory) or a RAM (Random Access Memory). The storage unit 11 stores various programs for operating the control unit 12.

The control unit 12 is a calculation resource including a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown). The control unit 12 realizes functions as a state determination unit 121, an environment identification unit 122, a situation determination unit 123, and a light emission control unit 124 by executing a program stored in the storage unit 11.

The state determination unit 121 determines whether or not the light provided in front of the vehicle V is lit. For example, the state determination unit 121 determines whether or not the light is lit based on the operation performed by the light switch 2. Specifically, the state determination unit 121 determines whether or not the headlight 4 is lit based on the operation status of the light switch 2. Similar to the headlight 4, the state determination unit 121 determines whether or not the small lamp and the fog lamp are lit.

The environment specifying unit 122 specifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle V. For example, the environment specifying unit 122 specifies the illuminance indicating the brightness around the vehicle V as the surrounding environment of the vehicle V. Specifically, the environment specifying unit 122 identifies the illuminance around the vehicle V by acquiring the illuminance around the vehicle V from the illuminance sensor 3.

The situation determination unit 123 determines whether or not the light is turned on based on the surrounding environment specified by the environment identification unit 122. For example, the situation determination unit 123 determines that the illuminance around the vehicle V specified by the environment identification unit 122 is less than the first threshold value for determining whether or not the headlight 4 is turned on. Is determined to be a lighting situation. The first threshold value is predetermined and is, for example, a value corresponding to the illuminance at dusk (for example, 1000 lux).

When the light is not lit and the light is lit, the light emission control unit 124 causes the light emitting unit 5 provided in the light switch 2 to emit light. Specifically, when the state determination unit 121 determines that the headlight 4 is not lit and the situation determination unit 123 determines that the headlight 4 is lit, the light emission control unit 124 is a light switch. The light emitting unit 5 provided in 2 is made to emit light. By doing so, the driver can recognize the position of the light switch 2.

The light emission control unit 124 stops the light emission of the light emission unit 5 when a lighting operation, which is an operation of turning on the light, is performed by the light switch 2. Specifically, the light emission control unit 124 stops the light emission of the light emitting unit 5 when the operation of turning on the headlight 4 is performed by the light switch 2 in the situation where the headlight 4 is turned on. By doing so, the light emission control device 1 can make the driver recognize that the operation of turning on the headlight 4 has been performed.

[Processing that prompts operation according to the light to be turned on]
The lights that should be turned on differ depending on the surrounding environment. However, even if the lights to be turned on are different, if the light emitting mode of the light emitting unit 5 is the same, the driver may not know which light should be turned on.

Therefore, the light emitting control unit 124 causes the light emitting unit 5 to emit light in a light emitting mode corresponding to the lighting state of the light determined according to the surrounding environment. Specifically, first, the situation determination unit 123 is a situation in which any of the plurality of lights provided in front of the vehicle V is turned on based on the surrounding environment specified by the environment identification unit 122. To identify. For example, the situation determination unit 123 identifies that the headlight is turned on when the illuminance around the vehicle V is less than the first threshold value. Further, the situation determination unit 123 determines that the situation is such that the small lamp is turned on if the illuminance around the vehicle V is less than the second threshold value for determining whether or not to turn on the small lamp. Here, the second threshold value is a value larger than the first threshold value.

Then, the light emitting control unit 124 causes the light emitting unit 5 to emit light in a light emitting mode associated with the light specified by the situation determination unit 123. For example, the light emitting control unit 124 turns on the light emitting unit 5 when the headlight 4 is turned on, and blinks the light emitting unit 5 when the small lamp is turned on.

By doing so, the light emission control device 1 can make the driver recognize which light is to be turned on, so that the operability of the light turning operation can be improved.

Hereinafter, the flow of the process of causing the light emitting unit 5 to emit light, which is executed by the control unit 12, will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process for causing the light emitting unit 5 to emit light. First, the control unit 12 determines whether or not the automatic lighting control of the headlight 4 is being performed (step S1). When the automatic lighting control of the headlight 4 is performed (Yes in step S1), the control unit 12 ends the process of causing the light emitting unit 5 to emit light.

When the automatic lighting control of the headlight 4 is not performed (No in step S1), the state determination unit 121 determines whether or not the headlight 4 is lit (step S2). When the headlight 4 is lit (Yes in step S2), the control unit 12 ends the process. When the headlight 4 is not lit (No in step S2), the environment specifying unit 122 specifies the illuminance around the vehicle V (step S3).

When the illuminance around the vehicle V is specified in step S3, the control unit 12 executes the light emission control process (step S4). FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the light emission control process. First, the situation determination unit 123 determines whether or not the illuminance specified by the environment identification unit 122 is less than the first threshold value (step S41). When it is determined that the light emission control unit 124 is less than the first threshold value (Yes in step S41), the light emission control unit 124 causes the light emission unit 5 to emit light in the first light emission mode corresponding to the operation of turning on the headlight 4 (step S42).

When the situation determination unit 123 determines that the specified illuminance is equal to or higher than the first threshold value (No in step S41), the situation determination unit 123 determines whether or not the specified illuminance is less than the second threshold value (step S43). When it is determined that the light emission control unit 124 is less than the second threshold value (Yes in step S43), the light emission control unit 124 causes the light emission unit 5 to emit light in the second light emission mode corresponding to the operation of turning on the small lamp (step S44). When it is determined that the light emission control unit 124 is equal to or higher than the second threshold value (No in step S43), the light emission control unit 124 ends the light emission control process.

Subsequently, the light emission control unit 124 determines whether or not the lighting operation has been performed on the light switch 2 (step S5). When the lighting operation is not performed (No in step S5), the light emitting control unit 124 determines whether or not the light emitting control process (step S4) and the lighting operation are performed until the lighting operation is performed (step S5). repeat. The light emitting control unit 124 stops the light emitting of the light emitting unit 5 when the illuminance around the vehicle V changes before the lighting operation is performed and the illuminance around the vehicle V becomes larger than the second threshold value. The light emission control unit 124 stops the light emission of the light emission unit 5 when the lighting operation is performed (step S6).

[Processing to prompt the light to turn off]
If the light is on in a situation where it is not necessary to turn on the light, the power consumption of the vehicle V will increase. Therefore, the light emission control device 1 prompts the driver to turn off the light by causing the light emitting unit 5 to emit light when the light is not turned on.

When the situation determination unit 123 determines that the headlight 4 is not lit, and the state determination unit 121 determines that the headlight 4 is lit, the light emission control unit 124 causes the light emission unit 5 to emit light. For example, the light emission control unit 124 causes the light emitting unit 5 to emit light in a light emitting mode different from the light emitting mode when the headlight 4 is urged to turn on. By doing so, the light emission control device 1 can prompt the headlight 4 to be turned off in a situation where it is not necessary to turn on the headlight 4.

Further, the light emitting control unit 124 determines that the headlight 4 is not lit, and is determined that the headlight 4 is lit, and the light emitting unit 5 is turned on when the vehicle V is stopped. It may emit light. By doing so, the light emission control device 1 can prevent the driver from leaving the vehicle V while the headlight 4 is lit.

(Modification example)
The light emission control device 1 may control the light emitting unit 5 to emit light and to evoke the operation of the light switch 2. For example, the light emission control device 1 causes the light emitting unit 5 to emit light, and causes a speaker provided in the vehicle V to output a sound for urging an operation. Further, the light emission control device 1 may cause the light emitting unit 5 to emit light and display an image urging the operation on the display unit provided on the vehicle V.

In the above description, the light emission control device 1 has an automatic control function for automatically controlling the extinguishing and extinguishing of the light, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the light emission control device 1 may not have the automatic control function.

[Effect of light emission control device 1 according to the embodiment]
As described above, the light emission control device 1 according to the embodiment determines whether or not the light provided in front of the vehicle V is lit, and whether the light is turned on based on the surrounding environment of the vehicle V. Judge whether or not. Then, when it is determined that the light is not lit and it is determined that the light is lit, the light emission control device 1 causes the light emitting unit 5 provided in the light switch 2 to emit light. By doing so, the light emission control device 1 can make the driver recognize the position of the light switch 2 and prompt the driver to perform the lighting operation.

Although the present invention has been described above using the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the gist. is there. For example, all or a part of the device can be functionally or physically distributed / integrated in any unit. Also included in the embodiments of the present invention are new embodiments resulting from any combination of the plurality of embodiments. The effect of the new embodiment produced by the combination has the effect of the original embodiment.

1 Light emission control device 2 Light switch 3 Illuminance sensor 4 Headlight 5 Light emitting unit 11 Storage unit 12 Control unit 121 Status determination unit 122 Environment identification unit 123 Status determination unit 124 Light emission control unit

Claims (6)

A state determination unit that determines whether or not the light provided in front of the vehicle is on, and
The environment identification unit that specifies the surrounding environment of the vehicle and
A situation determination unit that determines whether or not the light is turned on based on the surrounding environment specified by the environment identification unit.
When the state determination unit determines that the light is not lit and the situation determination unit determines that the light is on, the light operation unit for operating the extinguishing of the light is provided. A light emission control unit that emits light from the light emitting unit
Luminous control device having. When the light operation unit performs an operation to turn on the light, the light emission control unit stops the light emission of the light emission unit.
The light emission control device according to claim 1. When the situation determination unit determines that the light is not turned on and the state determination unit determines that the light is on, the light emission control unit causes the light emission unit to emit light.
The light emission control device according to claim 1 or 2. The light emitting control unit causes the light emitting unit to emit light in a light emitting mode corresponding to the lighting state of the light determined according to the surrounding environment.
The light emission control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The situation determination unit identifies which of the plurality of lights provided in front of the vehicle is to be turned on, based on the surrounding environment specified by the environment identification unit.
The light emitting control unit causes the light emitting unit to emit light in a light emitting mode associated with the light specified by the situation determination unit.
The light emission control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. Executed by a computer mounted on the vehicle,
A step of determining whether or not a light provided in front of the vehicle is lit, and
Steps to identify the surrounding environment of the vehicle and
A step of determining whether or not the light is turned on based on the specified surrounding environment, and
When it is determined that the light is on and the light is not on, the step of causing the light emitting unit provided in the light operation unit for operating the extinguishing of the light to emit light is
Light emission control method having.

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