JP7009694B1 - Car light control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To control lighting by predicting / detecting the generation of fog or the like which is a cause of visibility impairment by various sensors in a conventional vehicle light control device, but since the actual visibility is not compared, the visibility is surely There is a problem that the vehicle light control is not possible. SOLUTION: In a continuous (or close) determination image captured by an in-vehicle camera which is an external environment sensor, a headlight which is a lighting control selection target is linked with an in-vehicle camera which is an external environment sensor and a vehicle light ECU. It is a vehicle light control device that captures the lighting image of the fog lamp as a judgment image, determines the image recognition of the visibility of the judgment image, and controls the lighting of the vehicle light to the same lighting state as the image having the best visibility. .. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention has less adverse effect of blinking of a vehicle light on a driver or the like, can surely provide the driver with the best visibility, and uses an in-vehicle camera for automatic driving or a control unit for an auto light function to change a program or the like. It is also possible to deal with it at. [Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle light control device that captures a lighting image of a selected vehicle light with an in-vehicle camera by vehicle light control when a visibility disorder such as fog occurs, compares each image recognition, and lights the vehicle light having the longest visibility. ..

There is an auto light function that automatically turns on / off the car light according to the brightness of the surroundings, and it turns on automatically when the brightness starts to darken and the brightness is almost the same as when the street light turns on (less than 1,000 lux). , It is effective to prevent accidents by turning on the lights early.

In addition to the brightness of the surroundings, visibility may be impaired by fog, rain, snow, etc. For example, whiteouts that occur when accumulated snow is rolled up by strong winds occur even in fine weather, so it may be difficult to predict in advance due to the external environment such as temperature and humidity.
When the visibility is suddenly obstructed due to fog, whiteout, etc. while driving the vehicle and it becomes difficult to drive, the driver headlights (headlights) low beam (headlights for passing) to improve visibility. Switch to (light) or turn on the fog lamp (front fog light).
For safe driving, the driver prevents collisions with vehicles in front and behind by decelerating the vehicle speed, prevents deviation from the lane along guardrails, driving tracks, lane displays, etc., and in some cases makes the vehicle stand out. It is necessary to perform safe driving such as evacuating to a safe place.
It is necessary to perform such a series of driving operations in a timely and appropriate manner, but in the case of sudden visibility impairment, it may not be possible to switch the vehicle lights.
In addition, if the visibility is gradually impaired rather than suddenly, the driver's eyes may gradually get used to it and the timing of the vehicle light switching operation may be delayed.

Visible light is between about 380 and 800 nm, and long-wavelength (about 700 nm) light such as red light falls within the apparent size of the sun, which is the light source, during the daytime, and short-wavelength (about 470 nm) blue light. The sky looks blue because it is scattered in the atmosphere.
In the evening, the incident angle of the light beam becomes shallower and the distance through the atmospheric layer increases, so that the blue light collides with obstacles more frequently due to the ray scattering, and it becomes difficult to reach the ground surface due to factors such as absorption. Instead, long-wavelength rays such as yellow (about 580 nm), orange (about 610 nm), and red are scattered, and the sky in the direction of the sun setting (or rising) looks red as a sunset (sunrise).
In bad weather such as fog and whiteout, blue light with a short wavelength is scattered by water particles and blocked, and red light with a long wavelength passes through it and reaches farther, so it has high transparency in fog.
Therefore, when poor visibility occurs due to light scattering in bad weather, fog lamps with long wavelength light such as yellow improve visibility. However, monochromatic light causes an illusion to the driver, and there is a problem that a phenomenon such as difficulty in grasping a sense of distance or difficulty in recognizing a specific color occurs.
Lighting of fog lights may be annoying to oncoming vehicles and vehicles in front.
Since the low beam (headlight for passing) of the headlight has a shorter irradiation distance than the high beam (headlight for traveling), high beam traveling is desirable when there are no oncoming vehicles or vehicles in front.
In this way, it is necessary to appropriately control the vehicle lights at any time depending on the external environment and driving conditions.

LED lights used for headlights and fog lamps, which are car lights, do not use filaments and have the characteristics of high luminous efficiency and little heat generation. If the power supply is interrupted, they blink at high speed. It is highly responsive, consumes less power, and is highly safe.
The response speed of the LED element alone is 50 to 100 ns (nanoseconds), which is 5/100 million seconds to 1/10 million seconds.
When a person sees light, there is a time afterimage phenomenon as an afterimage effect, in which the light or image that has been seen until then remains even after the light disappears. The time resolution of the human eye is about 50 ms to 100 ms, and blinking of light shorter than this time is perceived as continuous lighting.
For example, in terrestrial digital broadcasting, the frame rate processed per unit time (seconds) is 30 fps, but it looks like a smooth movie to humans, and the LED traffic light blinks in synchronization with the power frequency (50 Hz or 60 Hz). However, it seems to be lit continuously.
There is a dynamic lighting method that utilizes the high responsiveness and afterimage effect of the LED, and it has the effect of blinking the lit LED at a constant frequency at high speed to suppress power consumption and prolong the life of the LED.
Since the frame rate of a general in-vehicle camera is 25 to 60 fps and the response speed of the LED element alone is 50 to 100 ns, the simple calculation of the imaging time of the image (60 fps) of the in-vehicle camera is 1/16600. The lighting of the LED can be controlled in time.
In the present invention, the lighting control of the vehicle light and the acquisition of the vehicle-mounted camera image are linked, the lighting image of each vehicle light is captured, and the visibility of image recognition is compared. When the vehicle light for capturing the independently lit image of each vehicle light is an LED, the lighting control is not easily perceived by the driver, pedestrian, or the like due to the afterimage effect.

Millimeter-wave radar irradiates millimeter waves, which are radio waves, to measure the distance and position information of an object, so it is resistant to environmental changes and backlight due to the weather, but it is difficult to identify details such as shape and size. It is difficult to handle radio waves with low reflectance and short-range detection.
LiDAR, which uses laser light, can accurately grasp the distance, shape, and positional relationship of preceding vehicles, pedestrians, buildings, etc., but the measurable distance is short and it is vulnerable to bad weather.
The in-vehicle camera, which acts as the driver's eyes, normally causes visibility problems due to light scattering in bad weather such as fog, and is normally exposed to strong light such as backlight, at night when natural light is insufficient, or in tunnels. There is a problem that it cannot be imaged. However, since it can recognize images and the colors of obstacles, it is an important visible light light receiving sensor that identifies pedestrians, road signs, signals, and the like. Although it is not possible to measure the distance of an object, it is possible to generate a parallax image with two cameras like a stereo camera and simply measure the distance.
Each of the above sensors has advantages and disadvantages, and is selected according to the purpose of use, function, etc. It is an important sensor.

There are the following prior arts (Patent Documents 1 to 4) for controlling lighting of a vehicle light suitable for a purpose when visibility is impaired due to light scattering in bad weather such as fog.
A two-dimensional distribution map of edge strength showing the amount of change in brightness of an image captured by an in-vehicle camera is created, and the amount of strong edge, which means the ratio exceeding the reference edge strength in the distribution map, is calculated. This strong edge amount represents the degree of blurring of the image, and when the strong edge amount is a value within a predetermined image blur determination range, it is considered to be fog or rain. Therefore, there are an in-vehicle fog state determination device that determines whether or not the wiper is driven and determines that the weather is fog when the wiper is driven, and an auto fog lamp system (Patent Document 1).
A laser radar device emits a laser beam forward, receives reflected light reflected from the preceding vehicle and returns, measures the inter-vehicle distance, and uses an approach warning device that issues an alarm if the vehicle is too close. If the distance data in the nuclear detection area excluding the vicinity of the boundary from the effective detection area is obtained and the distance data in the effective detection area cannot be obtained in the measurement, the detection range of the laser radar device is increased. When a certain amount of time has passed since the distance data in the effective detection area of the laser radar device could not be measured and the distance data in the effective detection area could not be obtained, it was called a fog rush. There is an auto-fog lamp device (Patent Document 2) that determines and outputs a fog lamp lighting command to turn on the fog lamp.
A fog lamp, a means for automatically detecting a poor visibility state, a humidity detection circuit, and an optical visibility detection circuit are provided, and their outputs are coupled by an adder circuit, and this coupled signal is processed to process the fog lamp. There is an optical light / indicator light control device (Patent Document 3) used in fog that controls turning on or off.
The control circuit includes a power supply and a control circuit that connects the power supply to the lighting / display unit, and the control circuit responds to an operation signal from the fog detection circuit, and the visibility is reduced in the path of the light beam emitted by the lighting / display unit. In some cases, the fog detection circuit has a lighting / display device (Patent Document 4) for use in fog that generates an operation signal.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-349637 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-115623 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-99772 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-185873

Conventional vehicle light control devices use various sensors to predict / detect the occurrence of fog, which is a cause of visibility impairment, and control the lighting of vehicle lights. However, since the actual visibility is not compared, the visibility is the highest. There is a problem that the vehicle light to be improved may not be selected, and it may not be possible to immediately respond to the sudden visibility disorder.

The first aspect of the present invention is a vehicle light control device including an external environment sensor and a driving condition sensor as an input means, a vehicle light as an output means, and a vehicle light ECU, and the vehicle-mounted camera which is the external environment sensor. In conjunction with the vehicle light ECU, a no-light image, a headlight which is the vehicle light, and / or a lighting image of the fog lamp, which is a selection target of lighting control, are imaged as a determination image, and the fog lamp and the headlight are LED. The determination image is synchronized with the lighting of the vehicle light by the timing signal from the vehicle-mounted camera to the vehicle light ECU and / or the timing signal from the vehicle light ECU to the vehicle-mounted camera. It is a vehicle light control device characterized by determining image recognition of the field of view of an image and controlling the lighting of the vehicle light to the same vehicle light lighting state as the determination image having the best visibility.

2. The vehicle light control device according to claim 1, wherein the wavelength of the fog lamp, which is the vehicle light, is longer than the wavelength of the headlight.

Claim 3 sets an image determination area for determining image recognition of visibility based on the irradiation range of the vehicle light of the determination image, and when the image pickup element of the vehicle-mounted camera is a CCD, the frame of the determination image. From the beginning of the pitch to the data transmission unit or the data transmission unit in the image determination area, when the image pickup element of the vehicle-mounted camera is CMOS, the headlight and / or the headlight and / or during data transmission in the image determination area. The vehicle light control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the fog lamp is turned on and the determination image to be selected for the lighting control is captured.

According to claim 4, the visibility failure mode and the driving condition are predicted by the input information from the external environment sensor and the driving condition sensor, and the vehicle light selection and the vehicle light selection frequency corresponding to the changing driving condition are set. The vehicle light control device according to items 1 to 3.

The first aspect of the present invention is a vehicle light control device including an external environment sensor as an input means, a driving condition sensor, a vehicle light as an output means, and a vehicle light ECU, which is the external environment sensor. By interlocking the vehicle-mounted camera and the vehicle light ECU, a non-lighting image, a lighting image of the headlight and / or a fog lamp, which is a lighting control selection target, is captured as a determination image.
The fog lamp and the headlight are LEDs, and the determination image is captured and the vehicle light is captured by the timing signal from the vehicle-mounted camera to the vehicle light ECU and / or the timing signal from the vehicle light ECU to the vehicle-mounted camera. The vehicle light control device is characterized by synchronizing the lighting of the vehicle, determining the image recognition of the visibility of the determination image, and controlling the lighting of the vehicle light to the same vehicle light lighting state as the determination image having the best visibility. Is.
Since the vehicle light control device of the present invention compares and determines the actual visibility when a visibility disorder occurs by the image recognition of the in-vehicle camera provided in the automobile, it has the effect of providing the driver with the best visibility in a timely manner. be.
Since the vehicle light control device of the present invention can divert an in-vehicle camera incorporated in an automobile such as automatic driving and can further utilize the vehicle light control of the auto light function, the vehicle light ECU is a related ECU. In some cases, it can be handled by adding or changing the program. The vehicle light control device of the present invention has a great cost-effectiveness because it can suppress the additional cost of the hardware of the vehicle light control device.

The second aspect of the present invention is the vehicle light control device according to claim 1, wherein the fog lamp, which is the vehicle light, has a wavelength longer than that of the headlight. It is high and has the effect of making the visibility in fog lamp illumination longer than that of the headlight (improving visibility in fog).
Since red lights cannot be installed in front of the vehicle body due to regulations, yellow light with an intermediate wavelength that has transparency in the fog next to red light is preferable.

A third aspect of the present invention sets an image determination area for determining image recognition of visibility based on the irradiation range of the vehicle light of the determination image, and when the image pickup element of the vehicle-mounted camera is a CCD, the determination is made. From the beginning of the frame pitch of the image to the data transmission unit or the data transmission unit of the image determination area, when the image pickup element of the in-vehicle camera is CMOS, the headlight is used during data transmission or data transmission in the image determination area. The vehicle light control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the fog lamp is turned on and / or the determination image to be selected for the lighting control is captured.
Although there is a difference in the amount of compression of the lighting time of the vehicle light depending on the image sensor of the vehicle-mounted camera, the lighting time of the vehicle light determination image can be compressed rather than the image pickup frame timing of the determination image.
Therefore, due to the lighting time of the vehicle light and the afterimage effect of the human eye, the blinking of the vehicle light is less likely to be perceived by the own vehicle, the oncoming vehicle, etc., so that the influence of the investigation blinking on the own vehicle, the oncoming vehicle, etc. can be further reduced. effective.

According to claim 4, the vehicle light selection and the vehicle light selection frequency corresponding to the changing driving situation are set by predicting the visibility obstacle mode and the driving situation by the input information from the external environment sensor and the driving situation sensor. The vehicle light control device according to claims 1 to 3 has the effect of being able to control lighting in response to changes in driving conditions at the right time.

It is a flowchart which shows the daytime information processing routine of Embodiment 1 of the vehicle light control device of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the nighttime information processing routine of Example 1. It is a block diagram which shows the construct of the vehicle light control device of Example 1. FIG. It is an operation time chart at the time of starting in the night fog of the vehicle light control device of the first embodiment. It is an operation time chart of the vehicle light control device of the first embodiment at night when fog is encountered. It is explanatory drawing of the car light irradiation area of the headlight and the fog lamp corresponding to claim 2 in the determination area f (D1f, D2f) of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the image recognition comparison method in the determination area f (D1f, D2f) of FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram (timing chart) for shortening the lighting time of a vehicle light by an image sensor (CCD, CMOS) of an in-vehicle camera, which corresponds to claim 3. It is explanatory drawing of the lighting shortening control of a car light by the image sensor (CCD, CMOS) of the vehicle-mounted camera corresponding to claim 3. It is a table which shows an example of the operation | operation mode by a driving-related element and a visibility disorder of the vehicle light control device of this invention corresponding to claim 4. It is explanatory drawing of the change of the irradiation range by a general fog when the headlight and the fog lamp are turned on.

The contents and examples of the vehicle light control device 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings (FIGS. 1 to 10).
The vehicle light control device 1 of the present invention uses the vehicle light ECU 3 to continuously (or close) two images of the vehicle light lighting control captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 41 which is an external environment sensor. The image of the car is turned on, the other image is turned off (or different car lights are turned on independently), the image recognition of the two images is compared, and the same car light as the image with good visibility is turned on. Control the lighting of the light. An example of the image recognition comparison method of the two images will be described with reference to FIG. 7.
The first embodiment of the vehicle light control device 1 of the present invention will be described as having an auto light function which is a conventional technique for automatically turning on / off a light according to the ambient brightness.
The information processing routine in the daytime mode, which is one mode, separated by the auto light function is shown in FIG. 1, and the information processing routine in the nighttime mode, which is the other mode, is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, in the information processing routine of the daytime mode, the lighting control of the fog lamp 22 for the visibility disorder such as fog is performed according to the operation mode due to the visibility disorder, and an example of the operation mode due to the visibility disorder will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the construct of the vehicle light control device 1 of the first embodiment is a vehicle light as an output means, an external environment sensor 4 and an operation status sensor 5 as an input means, and a vehicle light ECU 3 as a control device. It is composed.
The operation time chart of the vehicle light control device 1 of the first embodiment when starting in the night fog will be described with reference to FIG. 4, and the operation time chart at the time of encountering the night fog will be described with reference to FIG.
The headlights in the determination area f (D1f, D2f) and the vehicle light irradiation area of the fog lamp 22 shown in the operation time chart of FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG. An example will be described with reference to FIG.
The change in the irradiation range of each determination area (D1a, D1b) when the headlight 21 of FIG. 4 is turned on depending on the presence or absence of general fog will be described with reference to FIG. 10, which is an example in which the fog lamp 22 is additionally turned on.
In the following description, the headlight 21 may be a curved road light distribution variable headlight that automatically controls the illuminance distribution of the headlight according to the driving situation, the shape of the road, etc., and the fog lamp 22 is the fog lamp 22. It may be equipped with an interlocking back fog (rear fog light).

FIG. 1 is a daytime information processing routine of the first embodiment of the vehicle light control device 1 of the present invention, in which the vehicle light (fog lamp 22) is turned on and controlled by the vehicle light ECU 3.
Specifically, the vehicle-mounted camera 41 captures two images of the fog lamp 22 in the lit state and the fog lamp 22 in the off state, the visibility is determined by the image recognition of the two images, and the vehicle light is in the lit state of the image in which the visibility is improved. The information processing routine of the vehicle light control device 1 of the present invention for controlling the lighting of the fog lamp 22 will be described with reference to the flowchart (FIG. 1).
First, the vehicle light ECU 3 measures the ambient brightness with the illuminance sensor 44, which is the external environment sensor 4, and determines the control mode during the daytime (H) or nighttime (L) (step S010).
Here, when the output signal of the illuminance sensor 44 is L, it is determined that the mode is nighttime, and the information processing routine of the nighttime control mode shown in FIG. 2 is executed (step S400).
On the other hand, when the output signal of the illuminance sensor 44 is H, it is determined that the mode is daytime, and the vehicle light ECU 3 determines whether the fog lamp 22 is lit (step S020).
Here, if it is determined that the fog lamp 22 is not lit, (step S080) is executed.
On the other hand, when the vehicle light ECU 3 determines that the fog lamp 22 is lit, the fog lamp 22 is timely for a predetermined time for imaging by the in-vehicle camera 41 depending on the external environment such as the visibility obstacle shown in FIG. 9 and the driving condition. Turns off (step S030).
Next, the image recognition of the visibility of the image of the vehicle-mounted camera 41 when the fog lamp 22 is turned on and off is determined (step S040).
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the drive unit 37 of the vehicle light ECU 3 controls the switching element H25 of the fog lamp 22, and the in-vehicle camera 41 captures images when the fog lamp 22 is on and off.
In this case, when the fog lamp 22 is a highly responsive vehicle light such as an LED, the vehicle light ECU 3 synchronizes the vehicle-mounted camera 41 with a soft trigger, a hard trigger, or a power supply signal, or by a frame timing signal of the vehicle-mounted camera 41. It is possible to capture a lighting image and a turning-off image in two consecutive images in synchronization with the imaging timing and the vehicle light lighting timing.
Since this flowchart (FIG. 1) is in the daytime mode, there are two images of turning on and off the fog lamp 22, but in the case of the flowchart in the nighttime mode (FIG. 2), as shown in the operation time charts of FIGS. 4 and 5. In addition, two images in which the headlights 21 and the fog lamps 22 are alternately turned on can be captured as continuous determination area images by the synchronization.

Next, the vehicle light ECU 3 compares the image recognition of the visibility of the vehicle-mounted camera 41 image when the fog lamp 22 is turned on and off (step S050).
Specifically, in the image recognition of the image of the vehicle-mounted camera 41, it is determined which visibility is longer when the vehicle is on or off. Although this determination method is an example of the night mode, it will be described in a comparative example of the headlight 21 and the fog lamp 22 (FIGS. 6 and 7).
Here, if the image recognition of the lighting image of the fog lamp 22 is improved from the extinguished image, the fog lamp 22 is continuously lit and the RETURN returns to the START of this processing routine.
On the other hand, if the image recognition of the lit image of the fog lamp 22 is not improved from the turned-off image, the number of continuous processes in this determination step is counted, and it is determined whether the number of continuous processes reaches the set value (). Step S060).
This confirms that the fog lamp 22 is turned on quickly for safety, and that the fog lamp 22 is surely turned off by a plurality of image recognitions, and in an unstable situation, priority is given to turning on the fail-safe side.
Specifically, the vehicle-mounted camera 41, the illuminance sensor 44, the thermo-hygrometer 47, which is the external environment sensor 4, and the operation mode 51, the vehicle speed sensor 53, and the wiper mode 55, which are the operation status sensors 5, are used to set the visibility obstruction mode and the like. Assuming, the vehicle light ECU 3 sets the number of continuous processes in order to control the lighting of the vehicle light in a timely manner in accordance with the changing external environment and driving conditions.
Here, if the number of processes has not reached the set value, the process returns to (step S030).
On the other hand, when the number of processes reaches the set value, the fog lamp 22 is turned off, and the RETURN returns to the START of the present process routine (step S070).
Next, the fog lamp 22 is turned on for a predetermined time in a timely manner depending on the traveling state or the like (step S080).
Next, the image recognition of the visibility of the image of the vehicle-mounted camera 41 when the fog lamp 22 is turned off and turned on is determined (step S090).
Specifically, in the above (step S080) and (step S090), the (lighting) and (extinguishing) states of the fog lamp 22 are exchanged, but the action is the same as the above (step S030) and (step S040). Since they are the same, the description thereof will be omitted.
Next, the vehicle light ECU 3 compares the image recognition of the image of the vehicle-mounted camera 41 when the fog lamp 22 is turned on and off (step S100).
Specifically, in the image recognition of the image of the vehicle-mounted camera 41, it is determined which of the lighting and extinguishing visibility is improved for a long time, as in the above (step S050).
Here, if the image recognition of the turned-on image of the fog lamp 22 is not improved from the turned-off image, RETURN returns to START of this processing routine.
On the other hand, if the image recognition of the turned-on image of the fog lamp 22 is improved from the turned-off image, the fog lamp 22 is turned on (step S110), and then the RETURN returns to the START of this processing routine.
The flowchart shown in FIG. 1 is repeatedly executed by the vehicle light control device 1 while driving the vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the nighttime information processing routine of the first embodiment, in which the presence or absence of an oncoming vehicle and a vehicle in front is determined by the vehicle light ECU 3 to switch between the high beam and the low beam of the headlight 21, and the vehicle-mounted camera 41 is used to display the above. The headlight 21 and the fog lamp 22 are turned on and controlled to capture two images that are alternately lit independently, the visibility is determined by the image recognition of the two images, and the lighting control of the car light is performed to the lighting state of the image that improves the visibility. conduct. The information processing routine will be described with reference to a flowchart (FIG. 2).
First, the vehicle light ECU 3 determines whether or not there is an oncoming vehicle or a vehicle in front of the own vehicle 10 by image recognition of the vehicle-mounted camera 41 (step S410).
Here, if it is determined that there is an oncoming vehicle or a vehicle in front, the fog lamp 22 is turned off and the low beam of the headlight 21 is turned on (step S470).
On the other hand, when it is determined that there are no oncoming vehicle and no vehicle in front, the fog lamp 22 is turned off and the high beam of the headlight 21 is turned on (step S420).
Next, the fog lamp 22 is turned on and the headlight 21 is turned off for a predetermined time for imaging by the vehicle-mounted camera 41 in a timely manner depending on the external environment such as the visibility obstacle shown in FIG. 9 and the running condition (step S430).
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the drive unit 37 of the vehicle light ECU 3 controls the switching element H25 of the fog lamp 22 and the switching element H24 of the headlight 21, and the lighting image of the high beam that is independently lit by the in-vehicle camera 41. The lighting image of the fog lamp 22 is captured.
In this case, in a vehicle light in which the headlight 21 and the fog lamp 22 which are vehicle lights have high responsiveness such as LEDs, the vehicle light ECU 3 and the vehicle-mounted camera 41 are synchronized by a soft trigger or a hard trigger, or the frame of the vehicle-mounted camera 41 is used. With the timing signal, it is possible to image two consecutive images in synchronization with the imaging timing and the lighting timing.
Therefore, as shown in the operation time charts of FIGS. 4 and 5, two images in which the headlight 21 and the fog lamp 22 are alternately and independently lit can be captured as continuous determination area images by the in-vehicle camera 41.
Next, the vehicle light ECU 3 determines the image recognition of the visibility of the vehicle-mounted camera 41 image (2 images) in which the headlight 21 and the fog lamp 22 are alternately and independently turned on (step S440).
Specifically, the headlight 21 and the fog lamp 22 are LED and highly responsive vehicle lights, and the vehicle light ECU 3 and the vehicle-mounted camera 41 are synchronized by a soft trigger or a hard trigger, or images are taken by the frame timing signal of the vehicle-mounted camera 41. The timing and the lighting timing of the car lights can be synchronized, and the single lighting images of the high beam and the fog lamp 22 can be captured by two consecutive images.
For example, as shown in the operation time charts of the night mode in FIGS. 4 and 5, the headlight 21 and the fog lamp 22 are alternately turned on independently by the vehicle-mounted camera 41, and two consecutive images can be captured as each determination area image.
The image recognition of the visibility of the vehicle-mounted camera 41 images (2 images) specifically determines which visibility is longer when the high beam is lit or when the fog lamp 22 is lit. An example of this determination method will be described with reference to comparative examples (FIGS. 6 and 7) of the headlight 21 and the fog lamp 22 in the night mode.

Next, the vehicle light ECU 3 compares the image recognition of the visibility of the high beam lighting image of the vehicle-mounted camera 41 image and the fog lamp 22 lighting image (step S450).
Here, if the visibility of the fog lamp 22 lighting image is not improved from that of the high beam lighting image, the high beam is turned on, the fog lamp 22 is turned off, the process proceeds to 2 in FIG. 1, and the process returns to START via RETURN (step S460).
On the other hand, if the visibility of image recognition of the lighting image of the fog lamp 22 is improved from that of the lighting image of the high beam, the fog lamp 22 is turned off and the low beam is turned on (step S470).
Next, the fog lamp 22 is turned on and the headlight 21 is turned off for a predetermined time in a timely manner depending on the external environment such as the visibility obstacle shown in FIG. 9 and the running condition (step S480).
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the drive unit 37 of the vehicle light ECU 3 controls the switching element H25 of the fog lamp 22 and the switching element H24 of the headlight 21, and the low beam lighting image and the fog lamp that are independently lit by the in-vehicle camera 41. 22 lighting images are taken.
The description of synchronizing the vehicle light ECU 3 and the vehicle-mounted camera 41 is the same as in (step S430), and thus the description thereof will be omitted.
Next, the image recognition of the visibility of the low beam lighting image of the vehicle-mounted camera 41 image and the fog lamp 22 lighting image is determined (step S490).
Since the description of the method for determining the image recognition of the visibility is the same as in (Step S440), the description thereof will be omitted.
Next, the vehicle light ECU 3 compares the image recognition of the visibility of the low beam lighting image of the vehicle-mounted camera 41 image and the fog lamp 22 lighting image (step S500).
Here, if the image recognition of the visibility of the fog lamp 22 lighting image is improved from the image recognition of the visibility of the low beam lighting image, the low beam is turned on, the fog lamp 22 is turned off, the process proceeds to 2 in FIG. Return to (step S510).
On the other hand, if the image recognition of the visibility of the fog lamp 22 lit image is not improved from the image recognition of the visibility of the low beam lit image, the fog lamp 22 is turned on, the headlight 21 is turned off, the process proceeds to 2 in FIG. Return to START (step S520).
The flowchart shown in FIG. 2 is repeatedly executed by the vehicle light control device 1 as a subroutine for nighttime of the information processing routine shown in FIG. 1 while driving a vehicle.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration concept of the vehicle light control device 1 of the present invention according to the first embodiment.
The vehicle light control device 1 shown in FIG. 3 is composed of a vehicle light 2 as an output means, an external environment sensor 4 and an operation status sensor 5 as an input means, and a vehicle light ECU 3 as a control device.
The vehicle light 2 as an output means has a switching element H24 that controls ON / OFF of the headlight 21 that is a vehicle light and further switches between a high beam and a low beam, a switching element F25 that controls ON / OFF of the fog lamp 22, and manual switching. It is composed of the switch H27 and the switch F28.
The headlight 21 may be a variable light distribution type headlight for a curved road that illuminates the traveling direction in a curved road, and the fog lamp 22 may be provided with a back fog (rear fog light).
The external environment sensor 4, which is an input means of the vehicle light control device 1, includes an in-vehicle camera 41, an illuminance sensor 44, and a thermo-hygrometer 47.
The vehicle-mounted camera 41 capable of image recognition is an indispensable sensor in the present invention, and the first embodiment is premised on the auto light function of the prior art, and therefore has an illuminance sensor 44.
The thermo-hygrometer 47 can be used for setting the operation mode shown in FIG. 9, and is effective for setting the visibility impairment mode depending on the operation-related elements and the external environment.
The external environment sensor 4 includes an ultrasonic sensor that transmits ultrasonic waves from a transmitter toward an object and receives the reflected waves by a receiver, a millimeter wave radar that uses millimeter waves, and LiDAR that uses laser light. Although there are (lidar) and the like, the in-vehicle camera 41, which is a light receiving sensor for visible light, plays an important role in the vehicle light control device 1 of the present invention that improves the visibility of the driver.
The driving status sensor 5, which is an input means of the vehicle light control device 1, can grasp the outline of the driving status by the driving mode 51, the vehicle speed sensor 53, and the wiper mode 55. Situational information is also useful.
With the external environment sensor 4 and the driving condition sensor 5 which are the input sensors, the visibility obstacle mode and the like are assumed, and as shown in FIG. 1 (step S060), the vehicle light 2 corresponds to the changing external environment and the driving condition. , Control lighting at the right time.
The vehicle light ECU 3, which is a control device, has a vehicle light determination unit 34 that detects input from the switch H27 and switch F28 for manual switching of the vehicle light 2, and an external environment determination that detects input from the external environment sensor 4 of the input means. Information processing is performed according to the information processing routine of the vehicle light control device 1 (FIGS. 1 and 2 in the first embodiment) by the input from the traveling state determination unit 33 that detects the input from the unit 32 and the driving status sensor 5. , The lighting control is output to the vehicle light 2 which is an output means.

FIG. 4 is an operation time chart of the vehicle light control device 1 of the first embodiment when starting in the fog at night.
The horizontal axis of FIG. 4 is the time axis, and as shown in the uppermost row, the fog starts when the fog is encountered on the left side of the two-dot chain line, and the fog disappears on the right side of the two-dot chain line.
The vertical axis represents the vehicle light 2 as an output means, the vehicle light ECU 3 as a control device, the external environment sensor 4 and the operation status sensor 5 as input means, of each constituent block of the vehicle light control device 1 described with reference to FIG. Each component related to the information processing routine.
The frame pitch (St) division (long line) of the vehicle-mounted camera 41, which is a component of the external environment sensor 4, is a division of the screen (hereinafter referred to as “frame”), and a frame timing signal is used for each frame division. Is output. The output interval (St) of the frame timing signal is the reciprocal of the frame rate (seconds).
The short lines of equal pitch in each frame are scanning lines for image data transmission, and a progressive method is used in which all the scanning lines are transmitted one by one in order. Since this figure is an explanatory diagram of the present invention, the scanning lines are used. Is drawn less than the actual number.
Each related element other than the vehicle-mounted camera 41 illustrates ON / OFF or H / L switching which is an input / output signal.
The headlight 21 omits switching between the high beam and the low beam for the sake of simplicity, and the control unit 31 (fog) illustrates only the output signal to the fog lamp 22 in each frame and determines for easy understanding. The output signal in the area is indicated by a thick line.
The operation time chart of FIG. 4 will be described according to each step of the information processing subroutine (FIGS. 1 and 2) of the first embodiment.

First, when the control is activated, the information processing subroutine (FIG. 1) is activated, and at (S010), the illuminance sensor 44 starts at night, so the output is switched from H to L. 2) is executed.
For ease of explanation, after switching between high beam and low beam (S410) in the information processing subroutine at night (Fig. 2), the operating principle is the same except for the difference between high beam and low beam, so it is assumed that high beam (S420) is selected. explain.
When the output of the parking mode of the operation mode (P) 51P of FIG. 4 is switched to L by the starting operation, the output of the external environment determination unit 32D is switched to H, and the operation mode (not shown) changes from L to H.
When the operation mode becomes H, the vehicle-mounted camera 41 is activated, and the headlight 21 is turned on in the frame of the determination area a (D1a) by the output signal (ON) of the control unit 31.
Based on the frame timing signal of the vehicle-mounted camera 41, the control unit 31 turns off the headlight 21 and turns on the fog lamp 22 in the frame (D2a) of the determination area a, which is a predetermined time in a timely manner, depending on the traveling state or the like (S430). .. Since the vehicle is running at night, no-light images are not subject to judgment.
Judgment of image recognition of the visibility of the in-vehicle camera 41 images (D1a, D2a) when each vehicle light is lit independently is performed (S440), and it is determined that the visibility of the fog lamp 22 lit image (D2a) is improved because fog is being encountered. Then, the fog lamp 22 is turned on (S450) by the (ON) signal of the control unit 31.
While the fog lamp 22 is lit and traveling, switching between the headlight 21 and the fog lamp 22 is determined in a determination area provided at intervals (N1st) determined by the traveling condition and the like in a timely manner.
The interval (N1st) in the determination area is set by the vehicle light ECU 3 according to the lighting control state of the vehicle light, which is the input and output from the external environment sensor 4 and the operation status sensor 5, which are input means, and the operation mode shown in FIG. do.
Although not shown in FIG. 4, when fog is encountered, the visibility of the low beam may be improved rather than the visibility of the high beam, so the image recognition of the visibility of the low beam and the fog lamp 22 is compared and judged (S470 to S520). The comparison determination method is the same except that the high beam and the low beam are replaced.
If the visibility improvement determination process is delayed, the fog lamp 22 may be delayed due to a time lag.
From the fog lamp 22 lighting running while encountering fog, the visibility image recognition is judged in the judgment areas b (D1b, D2b) to the judgment area c (D1c, D2c) multiple times when the fog is cleared, and the fog lamp 22 lighting image is determined. When it is determined that the visibility is not improved, the fog lamp 22 is turned off (S460) or (S510) by the (OFF) signal of the control unit 31.
In the operation time chart of FIG. 4, the entire area of each frame (St) in the determination area is described as an exposure frame by lighting the vehicle light and a data transmission frame, but as described in FIG. 7, the image sensor of the in-vehicle camera 41 is a CCD. In this case, exposure can be achieved by operating the rolling shutter during data transmission in the image determination area of the frame, and the lighting time of the vehicle light can be further shortened.
When the image sensor of the in-vehicle camera 41 is CMOS, the vehicle light is turned on when reading the data at a speed higher than the frame rate, or when reading the data in the image recognition area of the image recognition of the visibility of the frame in the judgment area, and the lighting time is shortened. be able to. With these measures, the on / off of the vehicle light is not perceived by the driver of the own vehicle 10 and the oncoming vehicle, and the harmful effect of the blinking of the vehicle light can be reduced.

FIG. 5 is an operation time chart of the vehicle light control device 1 of the first embodiment when a night fog is encountered.
Since the vertical axis, the horizontal axis, the notation, etc. of the figure are the same as those of FIG. 4 when starting in the night fog, the description thereof will be omitted.
FIG. 5 is an operation time chart when the vehicle starts at night and encounters fog, and the information processing subroutine from the start of the night start to the first judgment area d (D1d, D2d) is the same as in FIG. 4, so the description is omitted. do. Since FIG. 5 is not in the fog, the determination result of the determination area d (D1d, D2d) is that the fog lamp 22 is turned off, the headlight 21 is turned on, and the headlight 21 is turned on in a timely manner during the subsequent running state. The switching between the headlight 21 and the fog lamp 22 is determined in the determination area at intervals of (N2st) determined by the above.
The interval (N2st) in the determination area is set by the vehicle light ECU 3 according to the lighting control state of the vehicle light, which is the input and output from the external environment sensor 4 and the operation status sensor 5, which are input means, and the operation mode shown in FIG. do.
In the first determination area f (D1f, D2f) after encountering fog, the image recognition of the image visibility when the headlights 21 (D1f) and the fog lamps 22 (D2f) are individually lit is determined and controlled. The unit 31 outputs a lighting signal of the fog lamp 22.
As shown in the enlarged view of the determination area f (D1f, D2f), the image recognition of the visibility of the data surrounded by (Dh) in the time axis direction and (Dw) in the scanning line direction of the image data is determined and compared. The details will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the vehicle light irradiation area of the headlight 21 and the fog lamp 22 corresponding to claim 2 in the determination area f (D1f, D2f) of FIG.
In the determination area (D1f) in which the headlight 21 is independently lit in the first determination area f (D1f, D2f) when the fog is encountered in FIG. 5, the side view and the plan view of FIG. As shown, the headlight 21 having a long irradiation range unless the weather is bad is also scattered by the particles of foggy water and blocked, so that the irradiation distance is shortened.
On the other hand, in the determination area (D2f) in which the fog lamp 22 is independently lit, the irradiation width is wider than that of the headlight 21 but the irradiation position is lower, as shown in the side view and the plan view of FIG. As a result, the wavelength of the fog lamp 22 is longer than that of the headlight 21, so it is less likely to be scattered by the particles of fog water. The shortening of is small.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, when fog is encountered, the irradiation distance of the fog lamp 22 having high transparency in the fog is often longer than that of the headlight 21 which normally has a long irradiation distance. Which car light has better visibility depends on bad weather conditions and the like.
Therefore, the vehicle light control device 1 of the present invention compares the visibility of the first determination area f (D1f, D2f) by image recognition when encountering fog, and by turning on the best vehicle light, the encounter of bad weather It can respond to the situation and provide the best visibility.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an image recognition comparison method in the determination area f (D1f, D2f) of FIG.
FIG. 7 is image data of the vehicle-mounted camera 41 in the determination area f (D1f, D2f) first when the fog is encountered in FIG. The upper figure (H) of FIG. 7 is the image data of the determination area (D1f) in which the headlight 21 is independently lit, and the lower figure (F) of FIG. 7 is the image data of the vehicle-mounted camera 41 in the determination area (D2f) in which the fog lamp 22 is independently lit. Is.
As shown in the side view and the plan view of the upper figure (1) of FIG. 6, the image data of the upper figure (H) of FIG. As shown in the side view and the plan view of the lower figure (2), it can be seen that the visibility of the image data in the lower figure (F) of FIG. 7 in the determination area (D2f) in which the fog lamp 22 is independently lit is long.
In order to determine the visibility with the vehicle light ECU 3, the two-dot chain line (thick line) of width (Dw) and height (Dh) at the same coordinate position in the upper figure (H) and the lower figure (F) of FIG. Set the image judgment area surrounded by.
In order to set the irradiation range of each vehicle light as important, the image determination area is set at a position (B) away from the upper part of the frame and (A) away from the side surface of the frame, and the driving condition such as vehicle speed and the shape of the road are set. It is also possible to enlarge / reduce the image determination area or correct the position up / down / left / right.
In the data transmission of the vehicle-mounted camera 41 in the determination area f (D1f, D2f) of FIG. 5, the scanning line of the length (Hs) is transmitted from the left end of the upper figure (H) and the lower figure (F) of FIG. However, the scanning lines are progressively transmitted one by one from the upper end to the lower end of the frame.
In order for the vehicle light ECU 3 of the vehicle light control device 1 to determine the visibility, image recognition of roads, people, cars, road signs, etc. in the image determination area of FIG. 7 is performed in two dimensions of the terrain on which the road is provided. Priority is given to image recognition of roads close to the data.
Two recognition rates existing in the image judgment areas in the upper and lower figures of FIG. 7 are set, and the height (R1H) (R2H) from the lower end of the image judgment area of the image (dashed-dotted line) having the higher recognition rate. , The height (R1L) (R2L) from the lower end of the image determination area of the image (broken line) having the lower recognition rate is calculated.
In the upper figure (H) of FIG. 7 and the lower figure (F) of FIG. 7, the heights (R1H) (R2H) on the image determination area of the image (dashed-dotted line) having the higher recognition rate are compared, and then the lower one. The height (R1L) (R2L) on the image determination area of the image (dashed-dotted line) of the recognition rate is compared, and the height on the image determination area is high. Judge that the visibility is good.
If the visibility of the higher recognition rate and the visibility of the lower recognition rate do not match, it is judged that the visibility of the priority recognition rate is good, the judgment is reserved this time without changing the vehicle light. Alternatively, the determination is made in consideration of driving-related factors and the operation mode due to visibility impairment.
As a method different from the method of determining visibility by image recognition, the distance function of a stereo camera capable of generating a difference image in the same manner as the human eye by two cameras (one is an in-vehicle camera 41) and simply measuring the distance. The visibility of the image with the set recognition rate (threshold) is simply measured and compared. This is effective when it is difficult to recognize the image of the road.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram (timing chart) for shortening the lighting time of the vehicle light by the image sensor (CCD, CMOS) of the vehicle-mounted camera 41, which corresponds to claim 3.
FIG. 8 is an operation time chart in which the headlight 21 is turned on independently in one frame and the fog lamp 22 is turned on independently in the other frame, and the above figure (D) is an in-vehicle camera. The image sensor of 41d is a CCD, and the image sensor of the vehicle-mounted camera 41m is CMOS in the figure (M) below.
The vehicle-mounted camera 41d (m), which is a component of the external environment sensor 4, outputs a frame timing signal to the vehicle light ECU 3 for each frame pitch (St) division (long line), and the vehicle light ECU 3 outputs input / output information thereof. And, based on the image data transmission timing of each frame and the image data transmission timing (Dh1) of the image determination area in it, the ON / OFF output signal is output to the headlight 21 and the fog lamp 22 which are the vehicle lights 2. ..
The short lines of equal pitch in each frame are scanning lines for image data transmission, and a progressive method is used in which all the scanning lines are transmitted one by one in order. This figure is an explanatory diagram corresponding to claim 3 of the present invention. Because there are, the number of scanning lines is less than the actual number.
For the sake of explanation, the in-vehicle camera 41 (d, m) is supposed to transmit image data in 70% of the frame pitch (St), and the in-vehicle camera 41d whose image sensor is (CCD) is the frame pitch (St). ), The vehicle-mounted camera 41m whose image sensor is (CMOS) transmits the image data in the first half of the frame pitch (St).
Since the image determination area of the image data has the same ratio as in FIG. 7 and the time axis of the scanning line is compressed by 70%, the time axis of (B1) (Dh1) (C1) is compressed from FIG. ing.
In the above figure (D), the image sensor of the in-vehicle camera 41d is a CCD, and the exposure is stopped by the shutter from the beginning of each frame (D1g, D2g) in the determination area g to the start of image data transmission (Dh1) in the image determination area. Therefore, even if the lighting time (Td) of each vehicle light is made longer than that, the CCD of the image sensor is not exposed. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, there is a problem even during lighting during the frame pitch (St). There is no. If the transmission start (Dh1) of the image data in the image determination area cannot be controlled, the lighting may be turned on until the transmission start (B1) of the image data.
The shutter may be a rolling shutter that sequentially scans an image line by line, or a global shutter that simultaneously scans the entire area of an image.
In the figure below (M), the image sensor of the in-vehicle camera 41m is CMOS, and the light receiving element converts the light from exposure into an electric signal and amplifies it with an amplifier. Is started, and each vehicle light is turned on at the time of transmission (Dh1) of image data in the image determination area, which starts from the beginning of each frame (B1).
Therefore, the lighting time (Tm) is the same as the transmission of the image data in the image determination area (Dh1), but it is controlled that the lighting timing of each vehicle light is matched with the transmission of the image data in the image determination area (Dh1). If it is difficult, the lighting time (Tm) may be set during transmission of image data (B1, Dh1, C1).
In this description, it is assumed that the image data is transmitted at a time of 70% of the frame pitch (St), but the compression rate of the transmission time (Dh1) depends on the frame rate, the transmission method and speed of the image pickup element. When the image pickup element is CMOS, the width (Dw1) and height (Dh1) images are available if the data transmission range can be selected by area (AOI) instead of by scanning line as in CCD. The transmission time (Dh1) can be further shortened by transmitting only the image data in the determination area.

FIG. 9 is a table showing an example of an operation mode of the vehicle light control device 1 of the present invention due to driving-related elements and visibility impairment.
In the present invention, the lighting images of the headlight 21 and the fog lamp 22, which are the vehicle lights 2 to be selected for lighting control, are captured as judgment images, the image recognition of the visibility of the judgment image is determined, and the visibility of the judgment image is determined. It is a vehicle light control device 1 that controls lighting of the vehicle light 2 in the same vehicle light lighting state as the best determination image. Therefore, in order to perform appropriate vehicle light control, it is necessary to select a vehicle light to be selected according to the driving condition and the like, and determine the determination frequency and the like.
As shown in FIG. 9, the selection of the headlight 21 and the fog lamp 22, which are the vehicle lights 2, has a priority depending on the visibility impairment mode, and this priority is used for the frequency of determination and the like, and may be used as a guideline. The lighting image is actually captured as a determination image for determination, and the vehicle light 2 is controlled to be lit so that the visibility of the determination image is the best.
Each visibility failure mode shown in Table 9 is input from the in-vehicle camera 41 which is the external environment sensor 4, the illuminance sensor 44, the thermo-hygrometer 47, the operation mode 51 which is the operation status sensor 5, the vehicle speed sensor 53, and the wiper mode 55. From the information, the type of visibility impairment mode, the probability of occurrence, the degree of visibility impairment, etc. are estimated.
In particular, for important fluctuation factors due to the vehicle speed sensor 53, wiper mode 55, etc., it is linked to the judgment timing of the vehicle light to be selected, and the confirmation interval, the number of confirmations, etc. shown in the information processing routine and the operation time chart are used. Reflect and control the lighting flexibly.
The embodiment in Table 9 is an example of visibility impairment in the operation mode, and each input sensor can be selected.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a change in the irradiation range due to general fog when the headlight 21 and the fog lamp 22 are turned on.
The above figure (N) is a side view and a plan view of the own vehicle 10 running with the headlight 21, the fog lamp 22 and the back fog (rear fog lamp) turned on at night, and the wavelength of the fog lamp 22 is It shall be longer than the wavelength of the headlight 21.
The figure below (F) is a side view and a plan view of the own vehicle 10 running by turning on the headlight 21, the fog lamp 22, and the back fog (rear fog lamp) when fog is generated at night.
As can be seen from the above figure (N) during night driving, the headlight 21 has an irradiation area far in front, and the fog lamp 22 has a wider horizontal direction and a lower vertical position as the irradiation range than the headlight 21. There is.
As can be seen from the figure below (F) during running when fog is generated at night, the headlight 21 has low transmissivity in fog due to horizontal scattering, so the irradiation range is short, and the fog lamp 22 has a longer wavelength than the headlight 21, so it is transmissive in fog. Since it has high properties, it is wide in the horizontal direction and low in the vertical direction, but the length of the irradiation area is not as short as that of the headlight 21.
Therefore, in the figure below (F) during traveling when fog is generated at night, the fog lamp 22 has a longer irradiation range than the headlight 21.

In the first embodiment, the headlight 21 and the fog lamp 22 are not turned on at the same time, but when the car lights are not turned on independently, as shown in FIG. 10, the high beam or the low beam of the headlight 21 is used. The combined lighting of the fog lamp 22 and the independent lighting of the vehicle light may be used as the determination target image, and the determination area may be a continuous or close determination image of 3 frames or more instead of 2 frames.
The first embodiment shows an example of the present invention and does not limit the present invention, and can be modified and improved by those skilled in the art.

The vehicle light control device of the present invention can be used in many general freight vehicles and passenger vehicles, and is equipped with an in-vehicle camera that is an external environment sensor. It may be easy to incorporate.

1 Car light control device 2 Car light 3 Car light ECU
4 External environment sensor 5 Driving status sensor 10 Own vehicle 21 Headlight 22 Fog lamp 24 Switching element H
25 Switching element F
27 Switch H
28 Switch F
31 Control unit 32 External environment judgment unit 33 Driving condition judgment unit 34 Vehicle light judgment unit 37 Drive unit 41 In-vehicle camera 44 Illuminance sensor 47 Thermo-hygrometer 51 Operation mode 53 Vehicle speed sensor 55 Wiper mode

Claims (4)

It is a vehicle light control device composed of an external environment sensor and a driving status sensor as input means, a vehicle light as an output means, and a vehicle light ECU.
By interlocking the in-vehicle camera, which is the external environment sensor, with the vehicle light ECU,
A non-lighting image, a lighting image of the headlight and / or a fog lamp, which is the vehicle light, which is a selection target of the lighting control, is captured as a judgment image in one frame each .
The fog lamp and the headlight are LEDs.
The imaging of the determination image and the lighting control of the vehicle light are synchronized by the timing signal from the vehicle-mounted camera to the vehicle light ECU and / or the timing signal from the vehicle light ECU to the vehicle-mounted camera.
A vehicle light control device comprising determining image recognition of the visibility of the determination image of each one frame and controlling the lighting of the vehicle light to the same vehicle light lighting state as the determination image having the best visibility. The vehicle light control device according to claim 1, wherein the fog lamp, which is the vehicle light, is a yellow light whose visibility in fog is improved as compared with the headlight . An image judgment area for judging image recognition of visibility is set based on the irradiation range of the car light of the judgment image.
When the image sensor of the vehicle-mounted camera is a CCD, from the beginning of the frame pitch of the determination image to the data transmission unit or the data transmission unit of the image determination area.
When the image pickup element of the vehicle-mounted camera is CMOS, the headlight and / or the fog lamp is turned on and controlled during data transmission or data transmission in the image determination area, and the determination image to be selected for lighting control is captured. The vehicle light control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the vehicle light control device is characterized in that. A claim characterized in that the visibility failure mode and the driving situation are predicted by the input information from the external environment sensor and the driving situation sensor, and the vehicle light selection and the vehicle light selection frequency corresponding to the changing driving situation are set. The vehicle light control device according to items 1 to 3.

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