JP5352266B2 - Anti-glare device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle anti-glare technology. In particular, the present invention relates to a technology that effectively blocks glare while securing a visual field.

  A vehicle is equipped with a sun visor in order to prevent dazzling passengers due to direct light from sunlight or the like (hereinafter referred to as glare light). Some sun visors include a light control panel on which a light control element (for example, liquid crystal or the like) capable of adjusting the light transmittance by an applied voltage is mounted, and the transmittance is adjusted according to the intensity of glare light to be inserted.

  There is a technique for adjusting the transmittance by providing a sensor in the vehicle, detecting the intensity of glare light and the brightness in the vehicle (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In addition, in order to prevent strong glare light from entering the eyes of the occupant while ensuring the sight of the occupant when using the sun visor, the area where the occupant's eyes are detected and the transmittance is reduced by the light control panel (blocking area) There is a technique of matching the position of the eye with the position of the eye (see, for example, Patent Document 2). Further, there is a technique for determining the blocking area by detecting not only the position of the passenger's eyes but also the direction of glare light (see, for example, Patent Document 3).

  The technology disclosed in each cited document prevents glare light from entering the driver's eyes and prevents the passengers from being temporarily dazzled from being dazzled. Therefore, the brightness (illuminance / luminance) in the vicinity of the occupant's eyes is always detected as illuminance in front of the eyes, and the transmittance of the light control panel is feedback-controlled.

JP 10-329541 A JP 2007-91081 A JP 2008-44603 A

  Usually, in order to prevent an occupant from being dazzled by strong light inserted from the glare light source, the transmittance in a range larger than the region emitting strong light as viewed from the light control panel is adjusted. However, it is known that what a person feels dazzling with respect to light emitted from a light source depends not only on the brightness near the eyes illuminated by the light emitted from the light source but also on the line of sight. For example, when the sun rays are greatly deviated from the line-of-sight direction at sunrise or dusk, the occupant does not feel so dazzling even though the illuminance in front of the eyes is large. Therefore, it is not necessary to excessively reduce the transmittance in such a situation. However, in the conventional control, since the transmittance is determined and adjusted only by the illuminance in front of the eyes, the transmittance is excessively reduced, and the forward visibility of the occupant is lowered.

  Further, glare light is not necessarily from the top of the vehicle, like sunlight and street lights. For example, some of the headlights of oncoming vehicles including sunlight reach the occupant's eyes as reflected light. Glare light applied to the road surface is diffusely reflected when the road surface is dry, but when the road surface is wet, the reflection surface (water surface) becomes smooth, so that the irregular reflection is reduced and the occupant's eyes More things to reach. Depending on the installation position of the sensor that detects the illuminance, the transmittance may not be adjusted appropriately.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for improving visibility without obstructing the occupant's field of view more than necessary, regardless of the traveling environment of the vehicle.

  In the present invention, when adjusting the transmittance of the light control panel to prevent direct glare light, the angle between the direction of the glare light and the line-of-sight direction is considered in adjusting the transmittance. Further, a special state such as incidence of light reflected from a wet road surface is not reflected in the adjustment of the transmittance.

  Specifically, it is an anti-glare device having a light control panel capable of changing the transmittance of light emitted from a light source, the light source detection means for detecting the position and brightness of the light source, and the position of the user's eyes Eye detection means for detecting; gaze direction specifying means for specifying the gaze direction of the user; and a light source direction from the user's eyes toward the light source based on a detection result of the eye detection means and a detection result of the light source detection means A light source direction calculating means for calculating the light source, a transmittance adjusting position determining means for determining a position for adjusting the transmittance of the light control panel according to the light source direction, and an angle formed by the light source direction and the line-of-sight direction. A light source line-of-sight angle calculating unit, and a transmittance changing unit that changes the transmittance of the light control panel at the position where the transmittance is adjusted according to the brightness of the light source and the angle calculated by the light source line-of-sight angle calculating unit. And Providing glare and wherein the obtaining.

  An anti-glare device having a light control panel capable of changing the transmittance of irradiation light from the light source, the light source detection means for detecting the position of the light source, and the eye detection means for detecting the position of the user's eyes A pre-illuminance detecting means for detecting the illuminance in front of the user's eyes, an illuminance holding means for holding the detection result of the pre-illuminance detecting means for a predetermined period, and a peripheral illuminance detecting means for detecting the illuminance around the front of the user. Illuminance determining means for determining the illuminance in front of the eye from the detection results held in the illuminance holding means according to the detection result of the peripheral illuminance detecting means, and the gaze direction specifying means for specifying the gaze direction of the user, Light source direction calculation means for calculating a light source direction from the user's eyes toward the light source from the detection result of the eye detection means and the detection result of the light source detection means, and the transmittance of the light control panel according to the light source direction Adjust According to the angle calculated by the transmittance adjustment position determining means for determining the position to be performed, the light source line-of-sight angle calculating means for calculating the angle formed by the light source direction and the line-of-sight direction, And a transmittance changing means for changing the transmittance at a position where the transmittance of the dimming panel is adjusted, and the illuminance determining means normally detects the detection result of the peripheral illuminance detecting means. Determining whether or not it indicates a state, and outputting the result detected by the anterior illuminance means as the anterior illuminance at the timing when the latest detection result is detected among the detection results indicating the normal state. An anti-glare device is provided.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, visibility can be improved, without interrupting a passenger | crew's visual field more than necessary irrespective of the driving environment of a vehicle.

It is a partial schematic diagram of a vehicle equipped with the vehicle anti-glare system of the first embodiment. It is a functional block diagram of the anti-glare system for vehicles of a first embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating arrangement | positioning of the light control panel of 1st embodiment. (A) is a figure for demonstrating the sun visor rotation angle sensor of 1st embodiment, (b) is a figure for demonstrating the sun visor inclination-angle sensor of 1st embodiment. (A)-(c) is a figure for demonstrating the eyes | visual_axis direction and eyes of 1st embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the gaze direction calculation method of 1st embodiment. (A1)-(b4) is a figure for demonstrating another example of the gaze direction calculation method of 1st embodiment. (A), (b) is a figure for demonstrating the light source direction calculation procedure of 1st embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the gaze light source angle of 1st embodiment. (A) And (b) is a figure for demonstrating the visual field by an anti-glare method. It is a figure for demonstrating the transmittance | permeability adjustment example of 1st embodiment. It is a processing flow of the glare-proof process of 1st embodiment. (A) And (b) is a figure for demonstrating the path | route of road surface reflected light. It is a partial schematic diagram of the vehicle carrying the anti-glare system for vehicles of the second embodiment. It is a functional block diagram of the anti-glare system for vehicles of a second embodiment. It is a processing flow of the glare-proof process of 2nd embodiment.

<< First Embodiment >>
Hereinafter, a first embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described. Hereinafter, in all the drawings for explaining the embodiments of the present invention, those having the same function are denoted by the same reference numerals, and repeated explanation thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing relevant portions of a vehicle 10 equipped with a vehicle anti-glare system 100 of the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the vehicle anti-glare system 100 of the present embodiment. The vehicle anti-glare system 100 according to the present embodiment uses a sun visor 22 provided in front of a driver seat or a passenger seat, blocks light from a strong glare light source 30 such as direct sunlight, and prevents glare.

  Therefore, the vehicle anti-glare system 100 according to this embodiment includes an occupant photographing device 110 that acquires images of the occupant 20 in the vehicle 10 and the surrounding area of the occupant 20, and a glare light source 30 and a light source that acquires the surrounding image. The imaging device 120, the light control panel 140 that is installed in the vehicle sun visor 22 and can change the transmittance, the drive circuit 150 that changes the transmittance of the light control panel 140, the occupant imaging device 110, and the light source imaging device 120 An information processing device 160 that processes input and outputs a signal for operating the drive circuit 150, and a sensor 170 such as a sun visor rotation angle sensor, a sun visor tilt sensor, a seat position sensor, and a backrest angle sensor are provided.

  The occupant photographing device 110 includes a light receiving unit configured by a CCD element or the like, and the light receiving unit receives light through a lens to capture a digital image and outputs the captured digital image to the information processing device 160. In order to photograph the face of the occupant 20 or the vicinity of the eyes 21, as shown in FIG. 1, the occupant 20 is installed on the dashboard toward the face of the occupant 20. The installation position is not limited to the dashboard, and may be any position where the face or eyes 21 of the occupant 20 can be photographed, such as in the instrument panel or on the sun visor. Further, the image acquisition is continuously performed after the vehicle anti-glare system 100 is activated.

  The light source photographing device 120 has a configuration similar to that of the passenger photographing device 110, and acquires an image including glare light that is strong light that exists or appears in the traveling direction of the vehicle. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 1, it installs in the back side of the sun visor 22 in the position which can image | photograph the advancing direction of a vehicle. The installation position is not limited to this, and may be any position where the traveling direction of the vehicle can be photographed, such as in the front grille, in the vicinity of the indoor ceiling, or on the rear side of the room mirror. Further, the image acquisition is continuously performed after the vehicle anti-glare system 100 is activated.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the light control panel 140 is fitted into an opening 31 that is provided at the center of the opaque resinous sun visor 22. The light control panel 140 is a liquid crystal panel, in which liquid crystal molecules are enclosed in a space sandwiched between two transparent substrates. By applying a voltage from the drive circuit 150 to the transparent electrode film formed on the substrate, the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules is controlled, and the transmittance changes. Note that the transmittance of a desired region 140a in the light control panel 140 can be changed by selecting a transparent electrode film to which a voltage is applied and a range of liquid crystal molecules whose direction is changed.

  Among the sensors 170, the sun visor rotation angle sensor 170a detects the rotation angle in the horizontal direction of the sun visor 22 on which the light control panel 140 is disposed, as shown in FIG. The sun visor inclination sensor 170b detects the rotation angle of the sun visor 22 in the vertical direction, as shown in FIG. The seat position sensor detects the front-rear position of the seat 32 on which the occupant 20 sits. The backrest angle sensor detects the angle of the backrest 33 of the seat 32 on which the occupant 20 sits. Each sensor 170 outputs a detection signal to the information processing device 160.

  The vehicle anti-glare system 100 according to the present embodiment specifies a position and a range for adjusting the transmittance of the light control panel 140 according to the direction and position of the glare light source as viewed from the occupant 20. The transmittance considers not only the brightness of the glare light source 30 obtained from the image photographed by the light source photographing device 120 but also the angle formed by the light source direction from the eye 21 of the occupant 20 toward the glare light source and the line-of-sight direction of the occupant 20. Determined. The information processing apparatus 160 processes the signals acquired in the above-described configurations and outputs a control signal indicating the position and range for adjusting the transmittance of the light control panel 140 and the transmittance itself to the drive circuit 150.

  In order to realize the above processing, the information processing apparatus 160 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, includes an eye position detection unit 210, a gaze direction calculation unit 220, a glare light source identification unit 230, and a gaze light source angle calculation. Unit 240, light control panel position detection unit 250, light control position determination unit 260, transmittance determination unit 270, and control unit 290. Each of these functions is realized by the CPU in the information processing device 160 loading and executing a program stored in the storage device into the memory.

  The control unit 290 controls the operation of each unit. In particular, the operations of the occupant photographing device 110 and the light source photographing device 120 are controlled, and synchronous control is performed so that data for one image is input to the information processing device 160 from both photographing devices substantially simultaneously.

  Each time the occupant photographing device 110 acquires data for one image, the eye position detection unit 210 performs image processing on the image and detects the position of the eye 21 of the occupant 20. First, a binarization process is performed on the acquired image, pattern matching is performed, and an area in the image is specified, so that it is detected two-dimensionally in the image. Then, the three-dimensional position is specified using the seat position sensor in the sensor 170 and the detection signal from the backrest angle sensor. In the present embodiment, the position between the eyes is calculated as the coordinates of the eyes 21 in the reference coordinate system of the vehicle anti-glare system 100.

  The line-of-sight direction calculation unit 220 performs image processing on the image acquired by the occupant photographing device 110 and calculates the line-of-sight direction of the occupant 20. FIGS. 5A to 5C are views for explaining the position of the black eye 43 in the white eye 44 according to the direction of the line of sight. The gaze direction calculation procedure by the gaze direction calculation unit 220 will be described with reference to these drawings. In this embodiment, the angle formed by the direction of the line of sight with respect to the front direction F of the vehicle 10 is calculated as the line of sight direction. Hereinafter, in the present embodiment, as an example, various angles are calculated from the front direction F with the oncoming vehicle side being positive. Of course, the positive and negative directions are not limited to this, and the road shoulder side from the front direction F may be positive. In the present embodiment, as shown in the drawing, the position of the black eye 43 in the white eye 44 changes according to the direction of the line of sight. In the present embodiment, using this, in the eye 21 on the image, the line-of-sight direction E is calculated from the position of the black eye among the white eyes. The specific calculation method is as follows.

  First, the part of the eye 21 is extracted from the acquired image. The detection of the eye 21 may use the detection result of the eye position detection unit 21. As shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C, in the captured image, the iris part 41 is brown or black, and the pupil part 42 is black because of less reflection of light inside the eyeball. The corneal portion (black eye) 43 including the two regions of the iris and pupil is black. On the other hand, the sclera portion (white eye) 44 around the cornea is white. In the present embodiment, in the acquired image, the white eye 44 and the black eye 43 are discriminated by image processing such as binarization processing and detected respectively.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that the black eye 43 moves on the eyeball whose diameter is the horizontal width (horizontal width) LW of the white eye 44, and the horizontal angle φ from the front direction F of the black eye 43. Is calculated. First, the lateral width LW is specified based on the detected white eye 44 region. Next, the position LB in the coordinate system having the origin at the center LO of the lateral width LW of the horizontal center K of the detected black eye 43 region is specified. Then, an angle φ that satisfies tan φ = LB / (LW / 2) is obtained. The obtained angle φ is an angle formed by the viewing direction E with respect to the front direction F. Again, the sign of the angle φ is adjusted to the above setting. Note that the calculation of the angle φ may be performed with only one eye, or an average of the results calculated with both eyes may be taken.

  The method for calculating the line-of-sight direction E is not limited to the above procedure. Another example of the calculation procedure of the line-of-sight direction E is shown in FIG. Here, as an example, the case where the gaze direction E is calculated with the left eye of the eyes 21 is shown. Since the black eye 43 is circular (see FIG. 7 (a3)), the size (diameter) a when facing the front is measured in advance (see FIG. 7 (a1) and FIG. 7 (a4)). When it is difficult to measure the diameter “a” of the black eye 43, the distance “d” from the head of the eye to the eyes and the left and right white eye distances “b” and “c” may be measured in advance, and the diameter “a” may be obtained by calculation (FIG. )reference).

  When the line of sight deviates from the front, as shown in FIG. 7B3, the black eye 43 is photographed as an ellipse. Here, the horizontal diameter a ′ is measured (see FIG. 7B1). At this time, when it is difficult to measure the diameter a ′ of the black eye 43 in the horizontal direction, the left and right white eye distances b ′ and c ′ may be measured and obtained by subtracting from the distance d from the top of the eye to the eye corner ( (Refer FIG.7 (b2)). An angle φ satisfying cos φ = a ′ / a is obtained from the horizontal diameter a ′ of the black eye 43 thus measured and the straight line a obtained in advance. The obtained angle φ is an angle formed by the line-of-sight direction E with respect to the front direction F. At this time, the calculated angle φ is an absolute value, and its sign is set according to the above setting, and is determined by the lengths of b and b ′ (or c and c ′). That is, in the case where the opposite vehicle side is set to be positive with respect to the front direction F as described above, and when calculating with the left eye, b ′ is shorter than b.

  In addition, you may comprise so that the detection result of a seat position sensor and a backrest angle sensor may be considered in the calculation of the gaze direction E. With this configuration, the line-of-sight direction E can be determined more accurately.

  Each time the light source photographing device 120 acquires data for one image, the glare light source specifying unit 230 performs image processing on the image, detects the glare light source 30, and determines the position (region), brightness, and the like on the image. Identify. As for the position on the image, a pixel region having a luminance value equal to or higher than a predetermined value in the image is specified by image processing such as binarization processing, and is detected two-dimensionally as a glare light source region. Further, using the position information of the light source photographing device 120 and the like, the angle formed by the glare light source 30 in the horizontal direction with respect to the front direction F is calculated as the light source direction ψ.

The calculation procedure of the light source direction will be described with reference to FIG. 8A shows an image projected on the image sensor 120 ′ included in the light source photographing device 120, and FIG. 8B shows the image sensor 120 ′ and the eye 21 of the light source photographing device 120 viewed from the vertical direction. FIG. The horizontal distance on the image sensor 120 ′ from the center in the horizontal direction of the image sensor 120 ′ in the image projected onto the image sensor 120 ′ to the glare light source 30 is X (mm). The focal length is L (mm), and ψ = tan ⁻¹ (x / L) is calculated. The obtained angle ψ is an angle (light source direction) ψ formed by the glare light source 30 with respect to the front direction F. In this case as well, the horizontal distance X is calculated from the front direction F, with the opposite vehicle side being positive, like the angle.

  Regarding the brightness, the brightness of the area identified as the position of the glare light source 30 by the above-described method is specified as the brightness of the glare light source 30, and the brightness of the darkest area in the image photographed by the light source photographing device 120 is used. Is determined as the adaptation luminance.

  The line-of-sight light source angle calculation unit 240 calculates an angle (line-of-sight light source angle θ) formed by the line-of-sight direction E and the glare light source 30 in the horizontal direction. Here, as shown in FIG. 9, the difference is calculated as the difference between the line-of-sight direction E (angle φ) calculated by the line-of-sight direction calculation unit 220 and the light source direction (angle ψ) calculated by the glare light source specifying unit 230. That is, θ = | ψ−φ |.

  The dimming panel position detection unit 250 identifies the position on the reference coordinates of the dimming panel 140 installed in the sun visor 22. The light control panel 140 is fixed on the sun visor 22, and the position with respect to the sun visor 22 is stored in advance in a storage device or the like. Therefore, first, using the outputs of the sun visor rotation angle sensor 170a and the sun visor inclination sensor 170b, the position of the sun visor 22 on the reference coordinates is specified, and based on this, the position of the light control panel 140 on the reference coordinates is calculated.

  The dimming position determination unit 260 uses the area and light source direction of the glare light source 30 detected and calculated by the glare light source specifying unit 230 and the position of the dimming panel 140 calculated by the dimming panel position detection unit 250. Then, the position and size of the glare light source 30 on the light control panel 140 are calculated. And based on a calculation result, the area | region which reduces the transmittance | permeability of the light control panel 140 is determined as a transmittance | permeability adjustment area | region. The transmittance adjustment region is determined according to a rule, for example, by predetermining a rule such as increasing the size of the glare light source 30 by 50%.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 10A, when the light from the glare light source 30 is blocked by the entire sun visor 22, the visual field in the direction of the sun visor 22 is completely blocked. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10B, when a part of the sun visor 22 is configured with a light control panel, and the transmittance of the light control panel is reduced only in the transmittance adjustment region determined by the light control position determination unit 260, Compared to FIG. 10A, a wide field of view can be secured.

  The transmittance determining unit 270 determines the transmittance based on the brightness and adaptation luminance of the glare light source 30 specified by the glare light source specifying unit 230 and the line-of-sight light source angle θ calculated by the line-of-sight light source angle calculating unit 240. Then, a control signal instructing to output a voltage for realizing the transmittance is output to the drive circuit 150 for the transmittance adjustment region determined by the dimming position determination unit 260.

透過率Ｔは式（１）に従って決定されるため、図１１（ａ）および（ｂ）に示すように、θが大きくなるにつれ、上昇する。なお、本実施形態の透過率Ｔは、上記式（１）での算出に限られない。順応輝度に対する光源の明るさが大きくなればなるほど、また、視線光源角度θが小さくなればなるほど、透過率が低下するような算出式であればよい。 The transmittance T (%) is calculated from, for example, the following expression based on the line-of-sight light source angle θ (min), the brightness E (lx) of the glare light source 30 specified by the glare light source specifying unit 230, and the adaptation luminance (lx). Calculate according to (1).

Since the transmittance T is determined according to the equation (1), as shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B, the transmittance increases as θ increases. Note that the transmittance T of the present embodiment is not limited to the calculation by the above formula (1). Any calculation formula may be used so that the transmittance decreases as the brightness of the light source with respect to the adaptation luminance increases and as the line-of-sight light source angle θ decreases.

  The anti-glare processing by the vehicle anti-glare system 100 of the present embodiment described above is started when the sun visor 22 is moved from the initial position, and is ended when the sun visor 22 is returned to the initial position. Hereinafter, the flow of the anti-glare process by the vehicle anti-glare system 100 of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 12 is a process flow of the anti-glare process of the present embodiment.

  When the sun visor 22 is moved from the initial position, the control unit 290 activates the occupant photographing device 110 and the light source photographing device 120 and starts photographing (step S401).

  The light control panel position detection unit 250 detects the position of the light control panel 140 (step S402). The control unit 290 determines whether or not the position of the light control panel 140 is the initial position (step S403). If it is the initial position, the process ends. On the other hand, if it is not the initial position, it waits for reception of data for one image from each of the occupant photographing device 110 and the light source photographing device 120 (step S404). When the data for one image is received, the eye position detection unit 210 detects the eye position, and the line-of-sight direction calculation unit 220 calculates the line-of-sight direction E (angle φ). The glare light source specifying unit 230 specifies the position, brightness, and adaptation brightness of the glare light source 30, and calculates the light source direction (angle ψ) (step S405).

  Then, the light control position determination unit 260 determines the transmittance adjustment region, and the line-of-sight light source angle calculation unit 240 calculates the line-of-sight light source angle θ from the line-of-sight direction E (angle φ) and the light source direction (angle ψ) (step) S406). The transmittance determining unit 270 determines the transmittance T from the brightness of the glare light source 30 and the line-of-sight light source angle θ (step S407), and outputs a control signal for controlling the transmittance of the determined transmittance adjustment region (step S407). S408). Then, it returns to step S402.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, not only the brightness of the glare light source 30 but also the line of sight formed by the direction of the glare light source 30 viewed from the position of the eye 21 of the occupant 20 and the line-of-sight direction E of the occupant 20. The transmittance T of the light control panel 140 is determined according to the light source angle θ. That is, when the brightness of the glare light source 30 is the same, when the line-of-sight light source angle θ is large, the occupant 20 is less likely to feel dazzling than when the line-of-sight light source angle θ is small. . Therefore, visibility can be improved without obstructing the peripheral vision of the occupant 20 more than necessary. According to the present embodiment, compared to the case where the transmittance is determined based only on the brightness of the glare light source 30, the transmittance is not lowered more than necessary, and the front visibility, particularly in the peripheral visual field, is eliminated. Visibility is improved.

<< Second Embodiment >>
A second embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described. In the present embodiment, when the occupant is irradiated with light including a large amount of polarized light components in a predetermined direction, such as light reflected on a wet road surface, the vehicle anti-glare system is configured not to misrecognize illuminance.

  The light A irradiated on the road surface, such as the headlights of an oncoming vehicle, is irregularly reflected A 'in various directions due to fine irregularities on the road surface as shown in FIG. There is little effect on the anti-glare system 100. However, since the surface of a road surface wet by rain or the like is covered with water, the reflection surface (water surface) is smoother than the road surface during drying. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 13B, the light B irradiated to the road surface is weakly diffused B ′, and the amount reflected by the direction of the occupant 20 (road surface reflected light B ″) increases. For this reason, the occupant 20 and the entire periphery thereof are brightened by the road surface reflected light B ″ as compared to when traveling on a dry road. In the vehicle anti-glare system 100, the illuminance including the road surface reflected light B ″ is determined as the illuminance of the surrounding environment, and the transmissivity is determined from the brightness of the glare light source 30 with respect to the illuminance. Tend to.

  The vehicle anti-glare system 100A of this embodiment basically has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment. However, a new configuration is provided to appropriately adjust the transmittance of the light control panel 140 even in an environment where the reflected light from the wet road surface as described above is received. Hereinafter, a description will be given focusing on the configuration different from the first embodiment.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram schematically showing relevant portions of the vehicle 10 equipped with the vehicle anti-glare system 100A of the present embodiment. FIG. 15 is a configuration diagram (functional block diagram) of the vehicle anti-glare system 100A of the present embodiment. In this embodiment, in addition to the configuration of the first embodiment, an illuminance sensor 130 that outputs a reception signal corresponding to the intensity of light (the amount of light received) to the information processing apparatus 160A is provided. In addition, an illuminance determination unit 280 that processes a reception signal input from the illuminance sensor 130 and an illuminance holding unit 310 that holds the illuminance specified by the illuminance determination unit 280 for a predetermined period in a storage device. Further, by providing the illuminance sensor 130, the configurations of the glare light source specifying unit and the transmittance determining unit are different. Hereinafter, in this embodiment, they are referred to as a glare light source specifying unit 230A and a transmittance determining unit 270A.

  The illuminance sensor 130 outputs a light reception signal corresponding to the intensity of light (the amount of light received) to the information processing device 160. The illuminance sensor 130 of the present embodiment mainly includes a first ambient illuminance sensor 131 and a second ambient illuminance sensor 132 that detect light intensity (ambient illuminance) in the surrounding environment in front of the vehicle, and the eyes 21 of the occupant 20. A pre-illuminance sensor 133 that detects the intensity of light in the vicinity (illuminance in front of the eyes). The second ambient illuminance sensor 132 detects the illuminance in substantially the same area as the peripheral illuminance sensor 131. However, only light having an amplitude in a predetermined direction is transmitted.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the first ambient illuminance sensor 131 and the second ambient illuminance sensor 132 are installed on the front side surface of the vehicle 10 of the sun visor 22, and the front illuminance sensor 133 is an occupant of the sun visor 22. It is installed on the 20th surface. However, the installation position is not limited to this, and the first ambient illuminance sensor 131 and the second ambient illuminance sensor 132 may be any positions that can detect the light intensity in the vehicle surrounding environment. For example, the light source imaging device You may install in a place near 120 or in a front grill. Further, the front-eye illuminance sensor 133 may be a position where the intensity of light in the vicinity of the eyes 21 of the occupant 20 can be detected, and may be installed on the headrest of the seat, for example. Further, the positions of the first ambient illuminance sensor 131, the second ambient illuminance sensor 132, and the anterior illuminance sensor 132 may be separated.

  The second illuminance sensor 132 is attached with a polarizing film that transmits only light whose polarization direction is horizontal. In general glare light, a horizontal polarization component and a vertical polarization component are mixed to the same extent. Therefore, when general glare light is received, the intensity of light detected by the second ambient illuminance sensor 132 is approximately half of the intensity of light detected by the illuminance sensor 131. However, the light reflected by the wet road surface contains a large amount of horizontally polarized light components. Therefore, when such light is received, the light that is blocked by the second ambient illuminance sensor 132 is small, and the detection result is equivalent to the detection result by the peripheral intensity sensor 131, and is reflected light on a wet road surface. Can be determined. The illuminance determination unit 280 of the present embodiment uses this characteristic to determine whether or not reflected light from a wet road surface is included, and determines the illuminance excluding the influence of the reflected light. This will be specifically described below.

  The illuminance determining unit 280 of the present embodiment uses the light reception signal from the illuminance sensor 130 to determine the pre-eye illuminance that is the basis for adjusting the transmittance, and outputs it to the transmittance determining unit 270A. The illuminance in front of the eye is specified at a predetermined time interval based on the light reception signal received from the illuminance sensor 133 in front of the eye, and is held in the illuminance holding unit 310 for a predetermined period. Further, the illuminance determination unit 280 determines whether or not the calculated anterior illuminance is based on a signal detected in the normal state, and the anterior illuminance detected in the normal state in response to a request from the transmittance determination unit 270A. The latest version is output as illuminance in front of the eyes.

  The illuminance determination unit 280 receives the first peripheral illuminance and the second peripheral illuminant from the light reception signals received from the first illuminance sensor 131 and the second illuminance sensor 132 at the timing when the light reception signal is received from the anterior illuminance sensor 133, respectively. Identify illuminance. Then, a difference between the first ambient illuminance and the second ambient illuminance is calculated. If the difference is equal to or less than a predetermined value, it is determined that the normal state is not obtained, and otherwise, the normal state is determined.

  In addition, the illuminance holding unit 310 holds information that specifies whether the illuminance before the eye determined by the illuminance determination unit 280 and the timing at which the illuminance before the eye is calculated are in a normal state.

  The transmittance determining unit 270A calculates the transmittance T (%) according to the equation (1) of the first embodiment. However, in the present embodiment, the illuminance in front of the eye (lx) is used instead of the brightness of the glare light source 30, and the first peripheral illuminance (lx) is used instead of the adaptation luminance. Then, similarly to the first embodiment, the transmittance determining unit 270A outputs a control signal instructing to realize the calculated transmittance T to the drive circuit 150. In the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the brightness and adaptation luminance of the glare light source 30 specified by the glare light source specifying unit 230A may be used.

  The glare light source specifying unit 230A basically has the same configuration as the glare light source specifying unit 230 of the first embodiment. However, as described above, since the transmittance determining unit 270A does not use the brightness and the adaptation luminance of the glare light source 30 when calculating the transmittance, these calculation functions may not be provided. When the transmittance determining unit 270A calculates the transmittance using the brightness of the glare light source 30 and the adaptation luminance, the transmittance determining unit 270A is configured to have a function of calculating these.

  Hereinafter, the flow of the anti-glare process performed by the vehicle anti-glare system 100A according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 16 is a process flow of the anti-glare process of the present embodiment.

  When the sun visor 22 is moved from the initial position, the control unit 290 activates the occupant photographing device 110, the light source photographing device 120, and the illuminance sensor 130, and starts photographing and detection of illuminance (step S501).

  The light control panel position detection unit 250 detects the position of the light control panel 140 (step S502). The control unit 290 determines whether or not the position of the light control panel 140 is the initial position (step S503). If it is the initial position, the process ends. On the other hand, if it is not the initial position, it waits for the reception of data for one image from each of the occupant photographing device 110 and the light source photographing device 120 (step S504). When the data for one image is received, the eye position detection unit 210 detects the eye position, and the line-of-sight direction calculation unit 220 calculates the line-of-sight direction E (angle φ). The glare light source specifying unit 230A specifies the position and the like of the glare light source 30 and calculates the light source direction (angle ψ) (step S505).

  Then, the light control position determination unit 260 determines the transmittance adjustment region, and the line-of-sight light source angle calculation unit 240 calculates the line-of-sight light source angle θ from the line-of-sight direction E (angle φ) and the light source direction (angle ψ) (step) S506). The transmittance determining unit 270A determines the transmittance (step S507), and outputs a control signal for controlling the transmittance of the determined transmittance adjustment region (step S508). Thereafter, the process returns to step S502.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, the visibility of the peripheral visual field can be improved without blocking the peripheral visual field of the occupant 20 more than necessary, as in the first embodiment. Furthermore, it is possible to reduce misadjustment of transmittance due to momentary insertion of special light such as light reflected from a wet road surface.

  The first ambient illuminance sensor 131 and the pre-ocular illuminance sensor 133 of the present embodiment are configured to be provided in the first embodiment, and the determination of the transmittance T of the first embodiment is performed in the same manner as the present embodiment. The first ambient illuminance may be used. In this case, also in the first embodiment, the glare light source specifying unit 230 may not have a configuration for specifying the brightness of the detected glare light source 30, the brightness of the darkest area on the image, and the like.

  In each said embodiment, although the area | region which adjusts the transmittance | permeability in the light control panel 140 is not specifically changed, it is not restricted to this. For example, the size of the region for adjusting the transmittance may be changed according to the line-of-sight light source angle θ. That is, as the line-of-sight light source angle θ decreases, a wider area is set as a transmittance adjustment area. By comprising in this way, the visibility of the periphery visual field of the passenger | crew 20 can be improved more.

  Moreover, in each said embodiment, although the light control panel 140 was comprised so that it might arrange | position to the sun visor 22, it is not restricted to this. For example, the light control panel 140 may be arranged directly on the windshield of the vehicle to adjust the transmittance. In this case, for example, engine start and stop are triggered by the start and end of the vehicle anti-glare system, respectively. Further, the light control panel position detection unit 250 may be omitted.

  Further, in each of the above embodiments, the occupant photographing device 110 has been described by taking an example of photographing with visible light. However, the occupant photographing device 110 may be configured to acquire infrared images using infrared rays. Moreover, both visible light and infrared rays can be used, and it may be configured to use properly depending on the environment (brightness) around the occupant 20. That is, in daytime or in a bright environment, photographing is performed with visible light, and an infrared image using infrared rays is acquired at night.

  In an image taken using infrared rays, the sclera (white eye) portion is white because it has the highest reflectance, and the iris portion is whiter than the pupil portion because the reflectance is higher than the pupil portion. However, the pupil part is black because of its low reflectance. Such an image is subjected to image processing such as binarization processing, and the gaze direction E is calculated by the same method as described above using the position of the pupil with respect to the entire eye.

  In each of the above embodiments, the case where the system is used in a vehicle is described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the transparent part of the hood of a motorcycle helmet may be used.

10: Vehicle, 20: Crew, 21: Eye, 22: Sun visor, 30: Glare light source, 31: Opening, 32: Seat, 33: Backrest, 100: Antiglare system for vehicle, 100A: Vehicle antiglare system, 110: Occupant photographing device, 120: light source photographing device, 130: illuminance sensor, 131: first ambient illuminance sensor, 132: second ambient illuminance sensor, 133: front illuminance sensor, 140: light control panel, 140a: desired region , 150: drive circuit, 160: information processing device, 160A: information processing device, 170: sensor, 170a: sun visor rotation angle sensor, 170b: sun visor tilt sensor, 210: eye position detection unit, 220: gaze direction calculation unit, 230 : Glare light source identification unit, 230A: glare light source identification unit, 240: line-of-sight light source angle calculation unit, 250: dimming panel position detection unit, 260 Dimming position determination unit, 270: transmission rate determination unit, 270A: transmission rate determination unit, 280: illuminance determination unit, 290: control unit, 310: illuminance holder

Claims (7)

An anti-glare device having a light control panel capable of changing the transmittance of irradiation light from a light source,
Light source detection means for detecting the position and brightness of the light source;
Eye detection means for detecting the position of the user's eyes;
Gaze direction specifying means for specifying the gaze direction of the user;
A light source direction calculation means for calculating a light source direction from the user's eyes toward the light source from the detection result of the eye detection means and the detection result of the light source detection means;
A transmittance adjustment position determining means for determining a position for adjusting the transmittance of the light control panel according to the light source direction;
Light source line-of-sight angle calculation means for calculating an angle formed by the light source direction and the line-of-sight direction;
A transmittance changing means for changing the transmittance of the light control panel at a position for adjusting the transmittance according to the brightness of the light source and the angle calculated by the light source line-of-sight angle calculating means;
Illuminance holding means for holding the brightness of the light source detected by the light source detection means for a predetermined period;
Ambient illuminance detection means for detecting illuminance around the front of the user;
Illuminance determining means for determining the brightness of the light source used when the transmittance changing means determines the transmittance from the detection results held in the illuminance holding means according to the detection result of the ambient illuminance detecting means, With
The illuminance determining means determines whether or not the detection result of the surrounding illuminance detection means indicates a normal state, and detects the latest detection result among the detection results indicating the normal state. An anti-glare device characterized in that at a timing, a result detected by the light source detection means is determined as brightness of the light source . An anti-glare device having a light control panel capable of changing the transmittance of irradiation light from a light source,
Light source detection means for detecting the position of the light source;
Eye detection means for detecting the position of the user's eyes;
A pre-illuminance detection means for detecting the illuminance in front of the user's eyes;
Illuminance holding means for holding the detection result of the anterior illuminance detection means for a predetermined period;
Ambient illuminance detection means for detecting illuminance around the front of the user;
Illuminance determination means for determining the illuminance in front of the eye from the detection results held in the illuminance holding means according to the detection result of the peripheral illuminance detection means,
Gaze direction specifying means for specifying the gaze direction of the user;
A light source direction calculation means for calculating a light source direction from the user's eyes toward the light source from the detection result of the eye detection means and the detection result of the light source detection means;
A transmittance adjustment position determining means for determining a position for adjusting the transmittance of the light control panel according to the light source direction;
Light source line-of-sight angle calculation means for calculating an angle formed by the light source direction and the line-of-sight direction;
Transmissivity changing means for changing the transmissivity of the light control panel at a position where the transmissivity is adjusted according to the illuminance in front of the eye and the angle calculated by the light source line-of-sight angle calculating means,
The illuminance determining means determines whether or not the detection result of the surrounding illuminance detection means indicates a normal state, and detects the latest detection result among the detection results indicating the normal state. The anti-glare device characterized by outputting the result detected by the anterior illuminance means at the timing as the anterior illuminance. The anti-glare device according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The ambient illuminance detection means further comprises a second ambient illuminance detection means attached with a polarizing film,
The illuminance determining means compares the detection result by the peripheral illuminance detection means with the detection result by the second peripheral illuminance detection means, and indicates the normal state when the light intensity of the two detection results differs by a predetermined value or more. An anti-glare device characterized by The anti-glare device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
The anti-glare device, wherein the light control panel is disposed on a sun visor of a vehicle. The anti-glare device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
The anti-glare device, wherein the light control panel is disposed on a windshield of a vehicle. The anti-glare device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 ,
The anti-glare device, wherein the transmittance adjustment position determining unit determines a range to be adjusted based on a calculation result of the light source line-of-sight angle calculating unit. The anti-glare device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 ,
The eye detection means further includes second eye detection means for detecting the position of the user's eyes from an infrared image acquired using infrared rays, and the illuminance detected by the peripheral illuminance detection means is less than or equal to a predetermined value. In this case, the anti-glare device is characterized in that the position of the eyes is detected by the second eye detecting means.

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