JP4720758B2 - VEHICLE LIGHTING DEVICE AND LIGHT DISTRIBUTION CONTROL METHOD - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular illumination device and a light distribution control method, and more particularly to a vehicular illumination device that controls light distribution such as a headlamp and a light distribution control method thereof.

  As a vehicular illumination device that controls light distribution of a headlamp or the like, for example, a technique described in Patent Document 1 has been proposed.

  In the technique described in Patent Document 1, a plurality of light sources that illuminate different areas and form a predetermined light distribution pattern including a main light distribution unit and a peripheral light distribution unit as a whole, a camera that images the front of the vehicle, Based on the image acquired by the camera, when the dangerous object judging unit judges an object dangerous for traveling of the vehicle as a dangerous substance, and the dangerous substance judged by the dangerous substance judging unit is outside the main light distribution unit It has been proposed to include a light source controller that changes the direction of a plurality of light sources to illuminate a dangerous object. That is, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, it is possible to recognize an object around the host vehicle by photographing it with a camera and perform light distribution control such as directing the optical axis to the recognized object. Proposed.

Further, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, when an oncoming vehicle is approaching, the light of the headlight of the oncoming vehicle is detected from the image of the camera and is directed to the oncoming lane side in the light distribution pattern. The glare light to the oncoming vehicle is reduced by controlling the brightness of the light source.
JP 2006-21631 A

  However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, when the oncoming vehicle is approaching, the brightness of the light source directed toward the oncoming lane is decreased to suppress glare light to the oncoming vehicle. However, in the case of reflection on the road surface due to rain or snow, the reflected light from the road surface is irradiated to the oncoming vehicle, so there is room for improvement in light distribution control.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above facts, and an object of the present invention is to reliably suppress glare light to an oncoming vehicle even in rain or snow.

In order to achieve the above object, a vehicular illumination device according to claim 1 includes a vehicular illumination means capable of changing light distribution, a detection means for detecting an oncoming vehicle by detecting a bright spot, and an ambient state. Acquisition means for acquiring, and mirror surface state determination means for determining whether or not the road surface is a mirror surface state from the surrounding state acquired by the acquisition means, the determination of the mirror surface state determination means is affirmed, and the detection means Whether or not the light emitted from the vehicle illumination means is reflected on the road surface and enters the oncoming vehicle when a plurality of bright spots are detected and the plurality of bright spots exist on a straight line passing through the host vehicle and determination means for the determination is affirmative, of the light distribution region of the light emitted from the vehicle lighting device, the light to a region corresponding to the oncoming vehicle detected by said detecting means is a non-illuminated or dim The vehicle lighting The light distribution is changed by controlling the means, and when the determination result of the determination means is affirmative, the light to the reflection area that reflects the light incident on the oncoming vehicle on the road surface is not irradiated or dimmed And a control means for changing the light distribution by controlling the vehicle illumination means.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the light distribution of the vehicle illumination means can be changed. For example, the vehicle illumination means can apply a vehicle headlamp.For example, the vehicle illumination means can include a plurality of light sources such as LED light sources and each light source can be divided into divided regions, or light from the light source A device that can be divided using a spatial light modulator such as a DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) or a liquid crystal device, or a device that can be divided using a shutter or the like can be used.

The detecting means detects the oncoming vehicle by detecting the bright spot . As the detection means, for example, a camera, a light receiving element, or the like can be applied, and an oncoming vehicle can be detected by detecting a bright spot in front of the vehicle.

  Further, the control means controls the vehicle illumination means so that, of the light emitted from the vehicle illumination means, the light to the area corresponding to the oncoming vehicle detected by the detection means is not irradiated or dimmed. As a result, the light distribution is changed, and thus glare light to the oncoming vehicle can be suppressed.

  However, when the road surface is in a mirror surface state due to rain, snow, or the like, glare light may not be suppressed because the road surface is reflected and light is applied to the oncoming vehicle.

Therefore, the determination unit includes an acquisition unit that acquires the ambient state, and a mirror state determination unit that determines whether the road surface is a mirror state from the ambient state acquired by the acquisition unit, and the determination of the mirror state determination unit is positive In addition, when a plurality of bright spots are detected by the detecting means and the plurality of bright spots exist on a straight line passing through the own vehicle, the light emitted from the vehicle lighting means is reflected on the road surface to the oncoming vehicle. The determination of whether or not it is incident is affirmed . That is, in the case of rain or snow, the road surface is in a mirror surface state, and the reflected light on the road surface is likely to be incident on the oncoming vehicle, so the acquisition means acquires the ambient state of the weather such as rain or snow, for example, The determination means determines that the road surface is wet and in a mirror state in the case of rain, snow, etc., so that the light emitted from the vehicle illumination means is reflected by the road surface and detected by the detection means. It can be determined that the light is incident on the car. The control means controls the vehicle illumination means so that the light to the reflection area irradiated from the vehicle illumination means and reflected on the road surface is not irradiated or dimmed when the determination by the determination means is affirmative. The light distribution is changed.

  By performing the control by the control means in this manner, the light to the reflection area is not irradiated or dimmed, so that glare light to the oncoming vehicle due to road surface reflection can be reliably suppressed.

  The control means controls the vehicle illumination means to change the light distribution.For example, there may be no change in the situation after changing the light distribution once, for example, when the intersection stops. Since the same light distribution is obtained before and after the change of the light distribution, the change of the light distribution by the control of the vehicle illumination means of the control means may include the maintenance of the light distribution.

The detection means and determination means, as in the invention according to claim 2, control such that the control means, the light to the vehicle lower side of the area of the bright point corresponding to the reflective region is non-illuminated or dim Further, the light distribution may be changed by controlling the vehicle illumination means. That is, in the portion of the road surface reflection, the vehicle vertical direction is reversed in the portion corresponding to the front windshield glass of the oncoming vehicle, so light to the region below the vehicle of the bright spot corresponding to the road surface reflection is not irradiated or The glare light due to road surface reflection can be reliably suppressed by changing the light distribution by controlling the vehicle illumination means so as to be dimmed.

The light distribution control method according to claim 3 determines that the road surface is in a mirror state from the detection step of detecting the oncoming vehicle by detecting the bright spot and the surrounding state acquired by the acquiring means for acquiring the surrounding state. And when a plurality of bright spots are detected in the detection step and the plurality of bright spots exist in a straight line passing through the host vehicle, the light emitted from the vehicle illumination means capable of changing the light distribution is reflected on the road surface. reflected a determination step of affirmative determination of whether to enter the oncoming vehicle, among the light distribution region of the light emitted from the vehicle lighting device, the region corresponding to the oncoming vehicle detected by said detecting step The vehicle illumination means is controlled to change the light distribution so that the light is not irradiated or dimmed, and when the determination result in the determination step is affirmed, the light is emitted from the vehicle illumination means. Road surface reflection Light to the reflective region is characterized by comprising a control step of changing the light distribution of the illumination means for the vehicle control to as non-irradiated or dim that.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the oncoming vehicle is detected in the detecting step by detecting the bright spot . For example, it is possible to detect an oncoming vehicle by detecting a bright spot in front of the vehicle using a camera, a light receiving element, or the like.

  Further, in the control step, among the lights emitted from the vehicle illumination means capable of changing the light distribution, the light for the area corresponding to the oncoming vehicle detected in the detection step is not irradiated or dimmed. The light distribution is changed by controlling the illumination means. As a result, glare light to the oncoming vehicle can be suppressed.

  The vehicle illumination means may be a vehicle headlamp, for example, a plurality of light sources such as LED light sources that can be divided into divided regions by each light source, It is possible to apply light that can be divided using a spatial light modulation element such as a DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) or a liquid crystal element, or light that can be divided using a shutter or the like.

  However, when the road surface is in a mirror surface state due to rain, snow, or the like, glare light may not be suppressed because the road surface is reflected and light is applied to the oncoming vehicle.

Therefore, in the determination step, it is determined that the road surface is in a mirror surface state from the surrounding state acquired by the acquisition unit that acquires the surrounding state, and a plurality of bright spots are detected in the detection step, and the plurality of bright spots are detected by the vehicle. When it exists in a straight line passing through, the determination as to whether or not the light emitted from the vehicle illumination means is incident on the oncoming vehicle reflected by the road surface and detected by the detection step is affirmed . In the control step, when the determination in the determination step is affirmative, the vehicle illumination unit is controlled such that the light to the reflection area irradiated from the vehicle illumination unit and reflected on the road surface is not irradiated or dimmed. Change the light distribution.

  By performing the control in the control step in this manner, the light to the reflection area is also not irradiated or dimmed, so that glare light to the oncoming vehicle due to road surface reflection can be reliably suppressed.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the oncoming vehicle is detected, and the light distribution area of the light emitted from the vehicle illumination means that can change the light distribution is applied to the area corresponding to the detected oncoming vehicle. Control whether the vehicle illumination means is controlled so that light is not irradiated or dimmed, and change the light distribution, and determine whether the light emitted from the vehicle illumination means is reflected on the road surface and enters the oncoming vehicle Is positive, the light distribution is controlled by changing the light distribution by controlling the vehicle illumination means so that the light to the reflection area that reflects the light incident on the oncoming vehicle on the road surface is not irradiated or dimmed. Even when the road surface is mirrored due to snow or snow, the glare light to the oncoming vehicle can be suppressed, so the glare light to the oncoming vehicle can be reliably suppressed even in rain or snow There is.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a vehicular illumination apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in the vehicular illumination device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention, a headlamp 12 provided in a vehicle is connected to a light distribution control ECU 14. The lighting and extinguishing of the lamp 12 are controlled.

  In the present embodiment, the light distribution control ECU 14 performs light distribution control so that the area corresponding to the oncoming vehicle ahead of the vehicle in the light distribution area of the headlamp 12 is turned off. In this embodiment, the light distribution control is performed so that the area corresponding to the oncoming vehicle is extinguished. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the light applied to the area corresponding to the oncoming vehicle is reduced. Also good.

  The light distribution control ECU 14 includes a microcomputer including a CPU 14A, a RAM 14B, a ROM 14C, and an I / O 14D.

  The ROM 14C of the light distribution control ECU 14 stores a table for performing light distribution control of the headlamp 12, a program for executing a light distribution control routine described later, and the RAM 14B performs various calculations performed by the CPU 14A. It is used as a memory for performing

  A wiper switch 15, a switch 16, a camera 18, and a headlight driver 20 are connected to the I / O 14 </ b> D, and an operation state of the switch 16 and a photographing result in front of the vehicle by the camera 18 are input to the light distribution control ECU 14. Is done.

  The wiper switch 15 instructs the wiper operation and outputs an instruction result to the light distribution control ECU 14. The switch 16 instructs the headlamp 12 to turn on and off, and instructs the low beam and the high beam, and distributes the instruction result. It outputs to light control ECU14. The camera 18 captures the front of the vehicle and outputs the captured result to the light distribution control ECU 14.

  Then, the light distribution control ECU 14 controls the headlamp driver 20 according to the state of the switch 16 to irradiate light from the headlamp 12, and on the basis of the captured image of the camera 18. The vehicle is detected, and the light distribution of the headlamp 12 is controlled so that the light from the headlamp to the area corresponding to the oncoming vehicle is not irradiated.

  Two headlamps 12 are provided at the front end of the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 2, the light distribution area of the headlamp 12 is divided into a plurality of parts, and light is irradiated to the divided areas 22. If the non-irradiation is enabled, the light distribution is changed for each divided region, and the light distribution control ECU 14 controls the irradiation and non-irradiation of light to each divided region.

  FIGS. 3A and 3C are diagrams showing an example of a headlamp applicable to the vehicular illumination apparatus 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  As the headlamp 12, for example, as shown in FIG. 3A, a light that reflects light from a light source 28 by a DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) 30 and irradiates the front of the vehicle through a lens 31 can be applied. It is.

  As shown in FIG. 3B, the DMD mirror 30 includes a plurality of micromirrors 32 and is a device that can control the rotation of each micromirror 32. That is, a light source driver 34 for turning on the light source 28 as a headlamp driver 20 and a DMD driver 36 for driving the rotation of each micromirror 32 of the DMD 30 are provided. By controlling the rotation of each micro mirror 32 of the DMD 30 by 36, it is possible to control the irradiation or non-irradiation of light to each divided region shown in FIG.

  Moreover, you may make it apply the headlamp 12 provided with the some LED light source 24, as shown in FIG.3 (C). In this case, the headlamp driver 20 can turn on or turn off the plurality of LED light sources 24 to irradiate or not irradiate each divided region 22 shown in FIG. FIG. 3C shows an example of a headlamp having two LED lamps 26 each having a plurality of LED light sources 24. For example, one LED lamp 26 is used for a low beam, and the other LED lamp 26 is used for a high beam. You may make it use properly as.

  In the present embodiment, the following description is given by applying the headlamp including the light source 28 and the DMD 30 shown in FIG. Further, the configuration of the headlamp 12 is not limited to the above. For example, a plurality of shutters that block light that illuminates the front of the vehicle from a single light source are provided, and the size of each shutter is made to correspond to the divided area. 2 may be irradiated with light or not, or a spatial light modulator such as a liquid crystal element other than the DMD 30 may be used instead of the DMD 30.

  Further, in the light distribution control of each divided region 22 of the light irradiated from the headlamp 12, the micromirror 32 of the DMD 60 corresponding to each divided region 22 is determined in advance, and the micromirror 32 of the DMD 30 is selectively selected. By rotating and controlling the light from the light source to be irradiated into the housing of the headlamp 12, the light irradiated to the divided regions 22 is not irradiated. A table representing the correspondence relationship with the micromirror 32 is stored in the ROM 14C.

  Here, the light distribution control performed in the vehicle lighting device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  When driving with the headlamp 12 turned on, especially when driving with the headlamp 12 turned on with a high beam, the oncoming vehicle is directly illuminated and given glare. The oncoming vehicle is detected by photographing the camera 18 and detecting the bright spot from the photographed result. And DMD30 is controlled so that the light to the division area corresponding to the detected oncoming vehicle is not irradiated. At this time, since the bright spot is the headlamp of the oncoming vehicle, the divided area above the vehicle in the divided area corresponding to the bright spot is the position of the front windshield glass of the oncoming car, so at least the bright spot above the vehicle The DMD 30 is controlled so that light to the divided region on the side is not irradiated.

  However, even if control is performed so that the light in the divided area corresponding to the oncoming vehicle is not irradiated, if the road surface is in a mirror surface state such as rain or snow, it is shown in FIGS. As shown, the light irradiated to the divided areas other than the non-irradiated divided areas is reflected on the road surface and irradiated to the driver of the oncoming vehicle, which gives glare.

  Therefore, the vehicular lighting device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention determines whether or not the road surface such as rain or snow is in a mirror surface state, and when the road surface is in a mirror surface state, the road surface is reflected to the oncoming vehicle. The DMD 30 is controlled so that light is not irradiated to the divided areas corresponding to the road surface reflection as well as the divided areas corresponding to the oncoming vehicle by detecting the area where the light is incident. Thereby, the glare feeling by the road surface reflection of the driver of an oncoming vehicle can be suppressed. At this time, in the road surface reflection area, as shown in FIG. 4A, the vertical positional relationship of the oncoming vehicle is reversed, so that the light to the divided area on the vehicle lower side of the bright point of the road surface reflection is not. The DMD 30 is controlled so as to be irradiated.

  In addition, the detection of the area where light is incident on the oncoming vehicle after being reflected on the road surface is because the brilliant point of the oncoming vehicle and the brilliant point where the light irradiated from the oncoming vehicle is reflected on the road line up on a straight line passing through the host vehicle. When a bright spot is detected from the photographed image of the camera 18 and a plurality of bright spots are detected, it is determined whether or not the plurality of bright spots are arranged on a straight line passing through the host vehicle. More specifically, when the oncoming vehicle is an automobile, there are two bright spots. Therefore, a straight line passing through the center between the two bright spots and the center between the two bright spots considered to be road surface reflections is If the oncoming vehicle is a two-wheeled vehicle, there is only one bright spot, so a straight line that passes through the bright spot of the oncoming car and the bright spot considered to be the road surface reflection reflects the host vehicle. Judge whether to pass.

  Next, light distribution control performed by the light distribution control ECU 14 of the vehicle lighting device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a light distribution control routine performed by the light distribution control ECU 14 of the vehicle lighting device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The light distribution control routine shown in FIG. 5 is started when the lighting of the headlamp 12 is instructed by the operation of the occupant's switch 16. Further, when the switch 16 is provided with the automatic lighting mode, the automatic lighting may be instructed by the occupant, and may be started when a predetermined condition for lighting the headlamp 12 is satisfied.

  When the lighting of the headlamp 12 is instructed by the operation of the occupant switch 16, the headlamp 12 is turned on in step 100. That is, the CPU 14 </ b> A controls the headlamp driver 20 via the I / O 14 </ b> D to drive the headlamp 12 by driving the light source 28 of the headlamp 12. Further, the micromirror 32 of the DMD 30 is turned on in the initial state, that is, at a position where the light distribution of the general headlamp 12 is performed. At this time, high beam or low beam lighting is performed according to the state of the switch 16.

  In step 102, the photographing result obtained by photographing the front of the vehicle with the camera 18 is acquired by the light distribution control ECU 14 via the I / O 14D, and the process proceeds to step 104.

  In step 104, the oncoming vehicle is detected by the CPU 14A based on the photographing result of the camera 18, and the process proceeds to step 106. The oncoming vehicle is detected by detecting a bright spot from the photographed image of the camera 18 by image processing, and the detailed method can be detected using various known techniques.

  Subsequently, in step 106, it is determined by the CPU 14A whether there is an oncoming vehicle. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 108, and if the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 107.

  In step 107, the area corresponding to the oncoming vehicle and the divided area corresponding to the road surface reflecting area may be turned off by the processing described later, so that the light distribution is reset by the CPU 14A, that is, the initial light distribution. The headlamp 12 is turned on and the process proceeds to step 120.

  On the other hand, at step 108, the state of the wiper switch 15 is acquired by the CPU 14A, and the routine proceeds to step 110.

  In step 110, the CPU 14A determines whether or not the wiper switch 15 is on. That is, when the wiper switch 15 is on, the road surface is in a mirror surface state due to rain, snow, or the like, so it is determined from the state of the wiper switch 15 whether or not it is in a mirror surface state. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 112, and if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 114.

  In step 112, the divided area corresponding to the oncoming vehicle is specified by the CPU 14A, and the process proceeds to step 118.

  On the other hand, in step 114, the CPU 14A determines whether or not there are a plurality of bright spots on a straight line passing through the host vehicle. In other words, as described above, when there is road surface reflection, a plurality of bright spots exist on a straight line passing through the host vehicle, and as shown in FIG. Since it is considered to be a bright spot reflected on the road surface, it is determined whether there is a bright spot of the oncoming vehicle and a bright spot of the road surface reflection area. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 112, and if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 116.

  In step 116, the divided area corresponding to the oncoming vehicle and the divided area corresponding to the road surface reflecting portion are specified by the CPU 14A, and the process proceeds to step 118.

  In step 118, the specified divided area is turned off, and the process proceeds to step 120. That is, the light distribution control ECU 14 controls the headlamp driver 20 so that the light irradiated to the divided area specified in step 112 or step 116 is controlled to be non-irradiated. Even so, glare light to the oncoming vehicle can be suppressed. Moreover, even when there is road surface reflection such as when it is raining or snowing, it is controlled so that the light to the divided area corresponding to the road surface reflection is not irradiated, so that glare light to the oncoming vehicle can be suppressed. .

  In step 120, the CPU 14A determines whether or not the switch 16 has been turned off. If the determination is negative, the process returns to step 102 and the above processing is repeated, and the determination in step 120 is affirmed. The process proceeds to step 122, the headlamp 12 is turned off, and the series of processes is terminated.

  As described above, in the light distribution control ECU 14 of the present embodiment, when the switch 16 is operated and the headlamp 12 is instructed to be turned on, the front of the vehicle is photographed by the camera 18, and the oncoming vehicle is based on the photographed image. Is detected and the light distribution control of the headlamp 12 is performed so that the light to the divided area corresponding to the oncoming vehicle is not irradiated, so that glare light to the oncoming vehicle can be suppressed even when traveling with a high beam. it can.

  In addition, when the road surface is in a mirror state, such as rain or snow, the driver of the oncoming vehicle is dazzled by the road surface reflection, but in this embodiment, the road surface reflection area that reflects to the oncoming vehicle Since the light distribution control of the headlamp 12 is performed so that the corresponding divided areas are not irradiated, the glare light to the oncoming vehicle can be reliably suppressed even when the road surface is in a mirror surface state.

  Further, the divided area where the light emitted from the headlamp 12 is not irradiated is a divided area (a plurality of divided areas) on the vehicle upper side of the bright spot in the divided area corresponding to the oncoming vehicle, and the road surface reflecting area. In the divided area corresponding to, the divided area on the lower side of the vehicle of the bright spot (may be a plurality of divided areas) is used to minimize the non-irradiated divided area and enter the front windshield glass of the oncoming vehicle The light to be able to be suppressed can be reliably suppressed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the light from the light source is supplied to the headlamp 12 when controlling the light irradiated to the divided area corresponding to the oncoming vehicle and the divided area corresponding to the road surface reflection to be non-irradiated. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the micromirror 32 of the DMD 30 may be rotated so as to move in the direction of the divided area on the traveling lane side of the host vehicle. Good. As a result, it is possible not only to suppress the glare light to the oncoming vehicle, but also to improve the visibility of the travel destination of the host vehicle.

  In the above embodiment, the size of the divided area is fixed. However, the size is not limited to this. For example, the size is changed according to the distance from the own vehicle to the oncoming vehicle or the distance to the road surface reflection area. May be.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the light distribution control ECU 14 controls the headlamp driver 20 so that the light to the divided areas corresponding to the oncoming vehicle and the divided areas corresponding to the road surface reflection is not irradiated. However, there is a case where there is no change in the situation after changing the light distribution once, such as when stopping at an intersection. In this case, the light distribution is the same before and after the light distribution change, so the situation does not change. In such a case, the light distribution control ECU 14 may maintain the current light distribution.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, in order to determine whether the road surface is in a mirror surface state due to rain, snow, or the like, the determination is made from the state of the wiper switch 15, but the present invention is not limited to this. A raindrop may be detected by a sensor or the like, and it may be determined that the road surface is in a mirror surface state due to rain or snow, or a dedicated switch that is manually operated by an occupant is provided, and a signal from the dedicated switch is provided. It is also possible to determine the specular state based on the above, and in this case, even if it is not raining, but it is not raining but the road surface is in the specular state, this control reliably suppresses glare light to the oncoming vehicle be able to.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle illuminating device concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the division area of the light distribution range of the headlamp of the illuminating device for vehicles concerning embodiment of this invention. (A) is a figure which shows the structure of the headlamp of the illuminating device for vehicles concerning embodiment of this invention, (B) is a figure for demonstrating the macromirror of DMD, (C) is this It is a figure which shows an example of the other headlamp applicable to the illuminating device for vehicles concerning embodiment of invention. It is a figure which shows the glare light to the oncoming vehicle by road surface reflection. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the light distribution control routine performed by light distribution control ECU of the illuminating device for vehicles concerning embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vehicle lighting device 12 Headlamp 14 Light distribution control ECU
15 Wiper Switch 16 Switch 18 Camera 20 Headlight Driver 22 Divided Area 24 LED Light Source 26 LED Lamp 28 Light Source 30 DMD
32 Micromirror 34 Light source driver 36 DMD driver

Claims (3)

Vehicle lighting means capable of changing light distribution;
Detecting means for detecting an oncoming vehicle by detecting a bright spot ;
An acquisition means for acquiring a surrounding state; and a mirror surface state determining means for determining whether or not the road surface is a mirror surface state from the surrounding state acquired by the acquiring means; the determination of the mirror surface state determination means is affirmed; and When a plurality of bright spots are detected by the detection means and the plurality of bright spots exist on a straight line passing through the host vehicle, the light emitted from the vehicle illumination means is reflected by the road surface and enters the oncoming vehicle. and determining means for determining whether or not is affirmative,
The vehicle illumination unit is controlled so that light to a region corresponding to the oncoming vehicle detected by the detection unit is not irradiated or dimmed out of a light distribution region of light emitted from the vehicle illumination unit. The vehicle so that the light to the reflection area that reflects the light incident on the oncoming vehicle on the road surface is not irradiated or dimmed when the determination result of the determination means is affirmative Control means for controlling the illumination means for changing the light distribution;
A vehicle lighting device comprising: The control means changes the light distribution by controlling the vehicle illumination means so that light to a region below the vehicle at a bright spot corresponding to the reflection region is not irradiated or dimmed. The vehicle lighting device according to claim 1. A detection step of detecting an oncoming vehicle by detecting a bright spot;
The road surface is determined to be a mirror surface state from the ambient state acquired by the acquisition means for acquiring the ambient state, and a plurality of bright spots are detected in the detection step, and the plurality of bright spots exist in a straight line passing through the host vehicle. A determination step of affirming a determination as to whether or not the light emitted from the vehicle illumination means capable of changing the light distribution is reflected on the road surface and enters the oncoming vehicle;
The vehicle illumination means is controlled so that light to a region corresponding to the oncoming vehicle detected by the detection step is not irradiated or dimmed out of the light distribution area of the light emitted from the vehicle illumination means. The vehicle so that the light to the reflection area irradiated from the vehicle illumination means and reflected from the road surface is not irradiated or dimmed when the determination result of the determination step is affirmed. A control step of controlling the illumination means for changing the light distribution;
A light distribution control method.

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