JPH07125570A - Head lamp lighting range controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To control the light distribution of head lamps of one's own car so as not to give a glare to a driver of another car. CONSTITUTION:When a switch is turned on, whether the position of a cut line is in a neutral position or not is judged (102), and when it is not in the neutral position, the cut line is situated in the neutral position (104) and then head lamps are lighted (106). Whether a main controller is in a state of capable of detecting another car or not is judged (110), and when it is not, whether the cut line position is in the neutral position not is judged (118), and when it is not, the cut line is situated in the neutral position (120). When the switch is turned off, the head lamps are put out (122) and whether the head lamps are situated in the neutral position or not is judged (124), and when it is not in the neutral position, the cut line is situated in the neutral position (126).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a headlamp irradiation range control device, and more particularly to a head for positioning a boundary line between the irradiation range and the non-irradiation range of a headlamp of a vehicle at a predetermined position at a predetermined time. The present invention relates to a lamp irradiation range control device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a headlamp provided in a vehicle performs two-stage light distribution of a low beam and a high beam. When another vehicle such as a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle exists, the low beam is often selected so as not to give an unpleasant glare to the driver of the other vehicle. However, for example, when the vehicle-to-vehicle distance with the preceding vehicle is long, in the case of distributing light in front of the own vehicle with a low beam, the driver has to continuously view the dark part outside the irradiation range of the headlamp, and When light is distributed in front of the own vehicle with a high beam, glare may be given to a preceding vehicle or the like. Therefore,
It was always difficult to irradiate the appropriate area in front.
In view of such a problem, by rotating the light-shielding cam based on the position of the other vehicle detected by the TV camera, a portion irradiated with the light from the headlamp and a portion not irradiated with the light from the headlamp in the area in front of the own vehicle. A vehicle headlight device has been proposed in which a cut line that is a boundary between the vehicle headlight and the vehicle is changed within a predetermined range so as not to give glare to a driver of the other vehicle (Japanese Patent Application No. 5-57031).

[0003]

However, in the above-described vehicle headlight device, control is performed by, for example, locating the cut line at the uppermost position of the predetermined range and extinguishing the light by the absence of another vehicle. End When the headlights are turned on again and the light distribution control is performed, if another vehicle exists in front of the host vehicle, the cut line is at the top position, so that the driver of the other vehicle is notified when the headlamps are turned on. May give glare.

In the above vehicle headlight device, the position of another vehicle is detected by the TV camera and the cut line is changed based on the detected position of the other vehicle. However, for example, the lane is not clear. If you cannot detect the other vehicle even if you take a picture of the front of your vehicle with a TV camera due to the road or thick fog, it is unclear what position the cut line should be placed. If it is in a higher position, glare may be given to a driver of another vehicle in front of the own vehicle.

Therefore, in consideration of the above facts, the present invention provides a headlamp irradiation range control device capable of controlling the light distribution of the headlamp of the own vehicle so as not to give glare to the driver of another vehicle. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

To achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a switch for turning on the headlamp of the host vehicle when turned on and turning off the headlamp of the host vehicle when turned off. A boundary line changing means for changing a boundary line between an irradiation range and a non-irradiation range of the headlamp of the own vehicle; a boundary line detecting means for detecting a position of the boundary line changed by the boundary line changing means; When the switch is turned on or off, it is determined whether the position of the boundary line detected by the boundary line detecting means is located at a predetermined position that does not give glare to the driver of another vehicle, and the boundary line is located at the predetermined position. If not, the control means controls the boundary line changing means so that the boundary line is located at the predetermined position. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the boundary line changing means for changing the boundary line between the irradiation range and the non-irradiation range of the headlamp of the vehicle and the position of the boundary line changed by the boundary line changing means are set. Boundary line detecting means for detecting, other vehicle detecting means for detecting the position of another vehicle,
Based on the position of the other vehicle detected by the other vehicle detection means, the boundary line is positioned so that the irradiation range of the headlamp of the own vehicle becomes a region that does not give glare to the driver of the vehicle. While controlling the line changing means, the position of the boundary line detected by the boundary line detecting means when the other vehicle detecting means cannot detect the other vehicle is at a predetermined position that does not give glare to the driver of the other vehicle. And a control unit that controls the boundary line changing unit so that the boundary line is located at the predetermined position when the boundary line is not located at the predetermined position.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the switch turns on the headlamp of the host vehicle when turned on, and turns off the headlamp of the host vehicle when turned off. The boundary line changing means changes the boundary line between the irradiation range and the non-irradiation range of the headlamp of the own vehicle. The boundary line detecting means detects the position of the boundary line changed by the boundary line changing means. The control means determines, when the switch is turned on or off, whether the position of the boundary line detected by the boundary line detection means is located at a predetermined position that does not give glare to the driver of another vehicle, and the boundary line is detected. Is not located at the predetermined position, the boundary line changing means is controlled so that the boundary line is located at the predetermined position.

As described above, when the switch is turned on or off, it is judged whether the position of the boundary line detected by the boundary line detecting means is at a predetermined position which does not give glare to the driver of another vehicle, and the predetermined position is determined. When the headlamp is turned on, glare is not given to other vehicles because the boundary line is located at a predetermined position when the headlamp is not lit.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the boundary line changing means changes the boundary line between the irradiation range and the non-irradiation range of the headlamp of the vehicle. The boundary line detecting means is
The position of the boundary line changed by the boundary line changing means is detected. The other vehicle detection means detects the position of the other vehicle. The control means positions the boundary line at a position where the irradiation range of the headlamp of the own vehicle is an area that does not give glare to the driver of the vehicle based on the position of the other vehicle detected by the other vehicle detection means. The boundary line changing means is controlled so that the position of the boundary line detected by the boundary line detecting means does not give glare to the driver of the other vehicle when the other vehicle detecting means cannot detect the other vehicle. It is determined whether the boundary line is located at a predetermined position, and if the boundary line is not located at the predetermined position, the boundary line changing means is controlled so that the boundary line is located at the predetermined position.

As described above, when the other vehicle detecting means cannot detect the other vehicle, the boundary line is located at a predetermined position that does not give glare to the driver of the other vehicle, so that the other vehicle detecting means detects the other vehicle. It is not possible to give glare to the driver of another vehicle by being unable to do so.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, an engine hood 12 is arranged on an upper surface portion of a front body 10A of a vehicle 10, and a front bumper 16 is provided at a front end portion of the front body 10A from one end to the other end in the vehicle width direction. Is fixed. This front bumper 16 and engine hood 1
A pair of headlamps 18 and 20 are disposed between the two front edge portions at both ends in the vehicle width direction.

A windshield glass 14 is provided near the rear end portion of the engine hood 12, so that the vehicle 10
A room mirror 15 is provided in the vicinity of a portion corresponding to the upper side of the windshield glass 14 inside. A TV camera 22 for picking up an image of the situation in front of the vehicle is arranged near the rear-view mirror 15. TV camera 22
Is connected to the image processing device 48 (see FIG. 4). In the present embodiment, as the TV camera 22, a TV camera that includes a CCD element that simply detects only the amount of light and that outputs an image signal representing a monochrome image is used.

The TV camera 22 is arranged at a position as close as possible to the driver's viewpoint position (so-called eye point) so that the road shape in front of the vehicle can be accurately recognized and the driver's visual sense is matched. It is preferably arranged. Further, the road shape in the present embodiment includes the shape of the traveling road, for example, the road shape corresponding to one lane formed by the center line, the curb, or the like.

Further, a speedometer (not shown) is arranged on the vehicle 10, and a vehicle speed sensor 66 (see FIG. 4) for detecting a vehicle speed V of the vehicle 10 is attached to a cable of the speedometer (not shown). There is. The vehicle speed sensor 66 is connected to the control device 50 and outputs the detection result of the vehicle speed V.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the headlamp 18 is a projector-type headlamp and includes a convex lens 30, a bulb 32 and a lamp house 34.
The lamp house 34 is fixed to a frame (not shown) of the vehicle 10 substantially horizontally. The convex lens 30 is fixed to one opening of the lamp house 34, and the optical axis L of the convex lens 30 (convex lens 30) is fixed to the other opening. The bulb 32 is fixed via a socket 36 such that the light emitting point is located on the central axis of the bulb.

On the bulb side inside the lamp house 34, a reflector 38 having an elliptical reflecting surface is formed.
The light emitted from 8 is reflected by the reflector 38 and condensed between the convex lens 30 and the bulb 32. Actuators 40 and 42 are arranged near the condensing point. The actuator 40 includes a light-shielding cam 40A rotatably supported by a rotation shaft 44 fixed in the lamp house 34 along the vehicle width direction, and a gear 40B is fixed to the light-shielding cam 40A. ing. A gear 40C fixed to the drive shaft of the motor 40D meshes with the gear 40B. The motor 40D is the driver 6 of the control device 50.
4 is connected.

Similarly to the actuator 40, the actuator 42 also includes a light-shielding cam 42A pivotally supported by the rotary shaft 44, a gear 40B fixed to the light-shielding cam 40A, a motor 42D, and a motor 42D. The gear 40C is fixed to the drive shaft and meshes with the gear 40B. The motor 40D is also connected to the driver 64 of the control device 50. The light of the bulb 32 reflected and condensed by the reflector 38 is reflected by the light-shielding cam 4 of the actuators 40 and 42.
A part of the light is blocked by 0A and 42A, and the other light is emitted from the convex lens 30.

The light shielding cams 40A and 42A are provided on the rotary shaft 4
4 has a cam shape in which the distance from the outer circumference to the outer circumference continuously changes along the circumferential direction, and the motors 40D and 42D are driven in response to a signal from the control device 50 so as to be separately rotated. It With the rotation of the light shielding cams 40A and 42A, the position of the boundary where the light of the bulb 32 is divided into the passing light and the light that has been shielded changes vertically. This boundary appears as a cut line which is a boundary line between the irradiation range and the non-irradiation range in the light distribution in front of the vehicle 10.

As shown in FIG. 8, the boundary line formed by the light shielding cam 40A appears as a cut line 70 on the right side in the vehicle width direction in the irradiation area of the headlamp 18, and the light shielding cam 40A is rotated. Thus, the position of the cut line 70 is from the position corresponding to the highest position (the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 8 as the solid line, the position below the so-called high beam) to the position corresponding to the lowest position (the position shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 8). , Parallel to the so-called low beam position).

Further, the boundary line formed by the light shielding cam 42A appears as a cut line 72 on the left side in the vehicle width direction in the irradiation area, and the position of the cut line 72 is maximized by rotating the light shielding cam 42A. It moves in parallel from an upper position (a position shown by a solid line as a cut line 72 in FIG. 8, a position below a so-called high beam) to a lowest position (a position shown by an imaginary line in FIG. 8, a position near a so-called low beam).

The headlamp 20 is the headlamp 1
Since the configuration is the same as that of 8, the detailed description is omitted,
As shown in FIG. 4, actuators 41 and 43 are attached, and the positions of the cut line on the left side and the position of the cut line on the right side of the irradiation area are moved separately in accordance with the operation of the actuators 41 and 43.

As shown in FIG. 4, a control device 50 for controlling the position of the cut line includes a read only memory (ROM) 52 and a random access memory (RAM).
54, central processing unit (CPU) 56, input port 58,
It is configured to include an output port 60 and a bus 62 such as a data bus or a control bus connecting these. The ROM 52 stores a map and a control program described later.

The image processing apparatus 48 is connected to the input port 58 via a bus 80. This image processing device 4
A TV camera 22 is connected to 8, and the image processing device 48 processes an image captured by the TV camera 22 based on a signal input from the TV camera 22 as described later. The input port 58 is further connected with a conlite system 82 and a vehicle speed sensor 66 for detecting the light and dark around the vehicle and automatically turning on and off the headlight switch. The output port 60 is connected to the actuators 40 and 42 of the headlamp 18 and the actuators 41 and 43 of the headlamp 20 via the driver 64, and is also connected to the image processing device 48.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. When it is determined by the not-shown conlight scanner of the conlight system 82 that the surroundings of the vehicle have become darker than a predetermined value, the headlight switch is turned on, and the conlight system 82
Power is supplied to the control device 50 by the ON signal from. As a result, the control device 50 is turned on, and the control main routine shown in FIG. 5 is executed. In step 102 of this control main routine, it is determined whether the position of the cut line is at the neutral position from the gain DEGR of the turning angle of the light blocking cam 40A and the gain DEGL of the turning angle of the light blocking cam 42A. Here, that the position of the cut line is located at the neutral position means that the cut line is located at a position between the lowest position and the highest position. If the cut line is located at the neutral position, the process proceeds to step 106. If the cut line is not located at the neutral position, step 10 is performed.
4, the gain DEGR of the rotation angle of the light shielding cam 40A so that the cut line is located at the neutral position, the light shielding cam 4
The gain DEGL of the rotation angle of 2 A is set, and the actuator 4 is set based on the set gains DEGR and DEGL.
0, 42 motors 40D, 42D are driven, and shading cam 4
Rotate 0A and 42A. The actuator 41
Is driven similarly to the actuator 40, and the actuator 43 is driven similarly to the actuator 42. As a result, the position of the cut line 70 is controlled to be in the neutral position, and the position of the cut line 72 is controlled to be in the neutral position.

At the next step 106, the headlamp is turned on, and at step 108, the signal from the image processing device 48 is read. In the next step 110, a state in which the image processing device 48 can detect another vehicle from the image substantially matched with the image viewed by the driver in front of the vehicle captured by the TV camera by the read signal, that is, , It is determined whether the image processing device 48 is in a state in which another vehicle can be detected. When the other vehicle can be detected, the light distribution control signal is read from the image processing device 48, and when the other vehicle is not detectable, the unrecognizable signal from the image processing device 48 is read and the image processing device 48 It is possible to determine whether or not another vehicle can be detected. Here, the light distribution control signal is a gain DEGR of the turning angle of the light-shielding cam 40A for locating the cut line at a position where the irradiation range of the headlamp of the own vehicle does not give glare to the driver of another vehicle, and It is a signal corresponding to the gain DEGL of the rotation angle of the light shielding cam 42A. The gain DEGR of the turning angle of the light blocking cam 40A and the gain DEGL of the turning angle of the light blocking cam 42A are set by the image processing device 48 processing an image captured by the TV camera.

If it is determined in step 110 that the other vehicle cannot be detected, the process proceeds to step 116. Here, when it is determined that the other vehicle cannot be detected, for example, even if the front of the vehicle is photographed by the TV camera,
There are cases where other vehicles cannot be detected due to unclear lanes or thick fog, or when the image processing device fails. In step 116, it is determined whether or not the switch is in the on state, and if it is in the on state, it is determined in step 118 whether or not the cut line of the headlamp is in the neutral position, and if it is not in the neutral position, the step is performed. In step 120, the headlamp cut line is set to the neutral position as in step 104 described above, and the process returns to step 108. If the cut line is in the neutral position, the process returns to step 108 as it is.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step 110 that the other vehicle can be detected, in step 112, the turning angle of the light shielding cam 40A set by the image processing device 48 detected from the light distribution control signal. The actuator is controlled on the basis of the gain DEGR and the rotation angle gain DEGL of the light shielding cam 42A.

Here, the image captured by the TV camera 22 is processed to obtain the gain DE of the turning angle of the light shielding cam 40A.
Processing of the image processing device 48 and the control device 50 for setting the gain DEGL of the rotation angle of the GR and the light shielding cam 42A will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. First, the other vehicle recognition processing is performed in step 200 shown in FIG. 6, and this processing will be described with reference to the other vehicle recognition subroutine shown in FIG.
FIG. 9A shows an example of an image (image 120) taken by the TV camera 22 while the vehicle 10 is traveling on the road 122 and substantially matching the image visually recognized by the driver. The road 122 has white lines 124 on both sides of the lane in which the vehicle 10 travels.
The position of each pixel on the image is specified by the coordinates (X _n , Y _n ) of the coordinate system defined by the X axis and the Y axis which are set on the image and are orthogonal to each other. In the following, the other vehicle is recognized based on this image.

In step 400 shown in FIG. 7, an area having a predetermined width γ on the image is set as the white line detection window area W _sd as shown in FIG. In this embodiment,
About 40 to 50 in front of the vehicle 10 when the vehicle 10 travels at night
Considering that only images up to m can be detected, the vehicle 10
The white line above 60 m in front of is not detected. Further, the probability that another vehicle exists in the lower area in the image is low. Therefore, the white line detection window area W _{sd is set} to the vehicle 10
Predetermined horizon 1 so that it can detect up to 60 m in front of
A white line detection window region W _sd is set by removing the regions of 40 or more and the region below the lower limit line 130.

In the next step 402, the window area W _sd
The inside is differentiated with respect to the brightness, and the peak point (maximum point) of this differential value is extracted as the edge point which is the white line candidate point. That is, in the window region W _sd in the vertical direction (arrow A in FIG. 10).
Direction), the brightness of each pixel in the horizontal direction from the pixel at the lowermost position to the pixel at the uppermost position is differentiated, and the peak point of the differential value having a large fluctuation in brightness is extracted as the edge point. Thereby, as an example, the window area W _sd of FIG.
Continuous edge points are extracted as indicated by a broken line 132 in the figure.

In step 404, linear approximation processing is performed.
In this processing, the edge points extracted by the white line candidate point extraction processing are linearly approximated using Hough transform, and approximate straight lines 142 and 144 along the line estimated to be the white line are obtained. At the next step 405, the intersection point P _N (X
The coordinate value = X _N ) is obtained, and the horizontal displacement amount A (A) between the obtained intersection point P _N and the intersection point P ₀ (X coordinate value = X ₀ ) of the approximate straight line in the case of a predetermined straight line as a reference. = X _N −X ₀ ). The displacement amount A corresponds to the degree of the curve of the road 122.

In the next step 406, the displacement amount A is A ₂
Road 1 by determining whether the ≧ A range of ≧ A ₁
It is determined whether 22 is a substantially straight road. This judgment reference value A ₁
Is a reference value representing the boundary between a straight road and a right curve road,
The judgment reference value A ₂ is a reference value representing the boundary between the straight road and the left curved road. If it is determined in step 406 that the vehicle is a straight road, the vehicle speed V of the host vehicle 10 is read in step 408.

In the next step 410, the correction widths α _L and α _R for correcting the position of the approximate straight line are determined in setting the vehicle recognition area W _P for recognizing the preceding vehicle and the oncoming vehicle according to the read vehicle speed V. To do. When traveling at high speeds, the radius of curvature of the road on which the vehicle can turn is large, so it can be considered that the vehicle is traveling on a substantially straight road. Even if the road is close to, if the radius of curvature of the road is small in the distance, the vehicle may deviate from the vehicle recognition area W _P. Therefore, the correction widths α _L and α _R are set so that the values increase as the speed V decreases, using the map shown in FIG.

At the next step 412, the lower limit line 130,
An approximate straight line 142 whose position is corrected by the correction widths α _L and α _R ,
A process for recognizing a preceding vehicle and an oncoming vehicle is performed by adding a predetermined triangular area (an area estimated to have an oncoming vehicle) to the right side of an area surrounded by 144 (an area estimated to have a preceding vehicle). A vehicle recognition area W _P for determining is determined (see FIG. 11). The area of the vehicle recognition area W _P is also increased as the vehicle travels at a low speed as the correction widths α _L and α _R are changed according to changes in the vehicle speed V (see FIG. 12). In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the vehicle travels on the left side. However, if the vehicle travels on the right side, the triangular area in which the oncoming vehicle is estimated to exist is added to the left side of the area in which the preceding vehicle is estimated to exist.

On the other hand, when the determination in step 406 is negative, it is determined in step 414 whether A> A ₂ or not, thereby determining whether the road is a right curve road or a left curve road. When the determination is affirmative, the road is determined to be a right curve road, the vehicle speed V of the vehicle 10 is read in step 416, and the correction widths α _L , α according to the read vehicle speed V are read using the map shown in FIG. Correction value for _R α _L ', α _R '
Is determined in step 418. In the next step 420, the gains GL for determining the correction widths α _R , α _L of the left and right approximate straight lines according to the displacement amount A indicating the degree of the curve,
GR is determined using the maps shown in FIGS. 14 and 15,
In step 422, the left and right correction widths α _R and α _L of the final window area are determined based on the determined correction values α _R ′ and α _L ′ and the gains GL and GR.

At this time, since the road is a curved road, the left and right sides are asymmetric, and the approximate straight lines 142 and 144 have different slopes. Therefore, the left and right correction widths α _R and α _L are set to independent values. That is, when the road is a right-curved road and the radius of curvature is small (the displacement amount A is large), the probability that the preceding vehicle 11 exists on the right side is high. Therefore, the correction width α _R is increased by increasing the right gain GR (see FIG. 14), and the correction width α _L is reduced by decreasing the left gain GL (see FIG. 15). Further, when the road is a right curved road and the radius of curvature is large (the displacement amount A is small), the correction width α _R is reduced by decreasing the gain GR on the right side, and the correction is performed by increasing the gain GL on the left side. Increase the width α _L. This change in correction width is shown in FIG.
As an image.

In step 424, the determined correction width α
_On the right side of the area surrounded by the approximate straight lines 142 and 144 whose positions are corrected by _L and α _R , a predetermined triangular area in which it is estimated that an oncoming vehicle exists is added to the preceding vehicle and the oncoming vehicle. A vehicle recognition area W _P for recognizing a vehicle is determined.

On the other hand, if the determination in step 414 is affirmative, it is determined that the road is a left curved road, and step 4
26, and the vehicle speed V of the vehicle 10 is read. In step 428, using the map of FIG. 13, the read vehicle speed V
The left and right correction values α _R ′, α _L ′ are determined in accordance with the above, and in step 430, the left and right gains GL, GR corresponding to the displacement amount A are determined. That is, when the road is a curved left road and the radius of curvature is small (the displacement amount A is large), there is a high probability that the preceding vehicle 11 exists on the left side. Therefore, correction is performed by reducing the gain GR on the right side according to the map shown in FIG. The width α _R is reduced, and the gain GL on the left side is determined by the map shown in FIG.
The correction width α _L is increased by increasing.

In the next step 432, the left and right correction widths α _R and α _L of the final window region are determined based on the determined correction values α _R 'and α _L ' and the gains GL and GR,
In step 434, the left and right correction widths α _R and α _{L determined}
A vehicle for recognizing and processing a preceding vehicle and an oncoming vehicle by adding a predetermined triangular area estimated to have an oncoming vehicle to the right side of the area surrounded by the approximate straight lines 142 and 144 whose positions are corrected in The recognition area W _P is determined.

When the vehicle recognition area W _P is determined as described above, the process proceeds to step 436, and horizontal edge detection processing in the vehicle recognition area W _P is performed as recognition processing of another vehicle. In this horizontal edge detection process, first, step 40
Similar to the edge detection process of No. 2, horizontal edge points are detected in the vehicle recognition area W _P. Next, the detected horizontal edge points are laterally integrated to detect a peak point E _P at a position where the integrated value exceeds a predetermined value (see FIG. 9B). This horizontal edge is likely to appear when another vehicle is present.

At the next step 438, the position coordinates of the other vehicle
Is calculated. First, vertical edge detection processing is performed. Horizontal edge
Peak point E of the integrated value at point j_PWhen there are multiple
Peak point E located below_PIn order from the peak point E_PTo
A vertical line is drawn to include both ends of the included horizontal edge points.
Window area W for detecting_R, W_LSet (Figure
9 (C)). This window area W_R, W_LInside
Vertical edges are detected and vertical lines 138R and 138L are
Window area W when detected_R, W _LSandwiched between
It is determined that another vehicle exists in the closed area.

Next, the vehicle width is obtained by obtaining the lateral distance between the vertical lines 138R and 138L detected in each of the window regions W _R and W _L , and the vehicle center coordinates (X
i, Yi) to obtain the coordinates of the center of the vehicle width. By repeating this process in the vehicle recognition area W _P , as shown in FIG. 19 as an example, the position coordinates of n (five in the figure) vehicles existing in the vehicle recognition area W _P are obtained. Since the detected vertical lines 138R and 138L correspond to both ends of the tail portion of the vehicle in the width direction, the coordinates (Xi, Yi) represent a position near the center of the tail portion of another vehicle. With the above, the other vehicle recognition process is completed, and the process proceeds to step 202 in the flowchart of FIG.

In step 202, the coordinate values (XR, YR) of the vehicle existing at the position where the Y coordinate value is the smallest on the right side of the irradiation area and the Y coordinate value on the right side of the irradiation area, which are used in the gain setting process described later. Initialize the coordinate values (XL, YL) of the vehicle existing in the smallest position. Here, the cut line 70 when the high beam is applied to YR
The value corresponding to the position of the cut line 72 at the time of the high beam, and the value corresponding to the position of XR, X.
An arbitrary value is set for L. In step 204, the value of the area "i" provided on the memory is set to 1 and step 2
At 06, among the position coordinates of the n vehicles determined by the other vehicle recognition processing described above, the coordinates (Xi, Y) of the “i” th vehicle
Take in i).

At step 208, based on the value of Xi taken in, whether the position of the i-th vehicle in the X direction is located on the right side or the left side within the irradiation area of the headlamps 18 and 20, Or determine whether it is located in the center. The right side of the irradiation region here is a region corresponding to the cut line 70 shown in FIG. 8, and the left side of the irradiation region is a region corresponding to the cut line 72. Also,
When the position of the vehicle in the X direction is the position on the cut line 70 and the cut line 72, it is determined that the vehicle is located at the center.

When it is determined in step 208 that the vehicle is located on the left side, the process proceeds to step 210 and Yi
Is smaller than the coordinate value YL. If the determination in step 208 is affirmative, step 2
In step 12, Yi is assigned to YL and Xi is assigned to XL, and the process proceeds to step 226. On the other hand, when it is determined in step 208 that the vehicle is located on the right side, the process proceeds to step 222, and it is determined whether the value of Yi is smaller than the value of coordinate value YR. If this determination is affirmative, Yi is substituted for YR and Xi is substituted for XR at step 224, and the routine proceeds to step 226.

When it is determined in step 208 that the vehicle is located at the center of the irradiation area on the cut lines 70 and 72, it is determined in step 214 whether the value of Yi is smaller than the value of YL. If the determination is affirmative, Yi is substituted for YL and Xi is substituted for XL in step 216, and it is determined in next step 218 whether the value of Yi is smaller than the value of YR. If affirmative, in step 216 Yi is assigned to YR and Xi is assigned to XR, and the process proceeds to step 226.

In step 226, it is determined whether or not the above processing has been performed for all the other vehicles whose positions have been detected by the other vehicle recognition processing. If the determination in step 226 is negative, "1" is added to i in step 228, the process returns to step 206, and the coordinate of the next vehicle (Xi, Y
i) take in step 20 based on the taken coordinates
The processing from 8 to 226 is repeated. Therefore, step 200
When n vehicles are recognized in the other vehicle recognition processing, the processing in steps 206 to 228 is repeated n times, and the determination in step 226 is affirmed and step 230 is performed.
Move to.

When the determination in step 226 is affirmative, the coordinate value (XR, YR) is the coordinate of the vehicle existing at the position where the Y coordinate value is the smallest on the right side (and the center) of the headlamp irradiation area. Stored and coordinate value (X
L, YL) stores the coordinates of the vehicle existing at the position with the smallest Y coordinate value on the left side (and center) of the headlamp irradiation area. This (XR, Y
The vehicles existing at the positions R) and (XL, YL) are vehicles that are most likely to give glare on the right and left sides of the irradiation area. If the vehicle is not present, or if the vehicle is present at a position higher than the cut line position of the headlamp during the high beam (that is, at a very distant position),
The coordinate values (XR, YR) and (XL, YL) retain the initial values.

In step 230, the actuator 4
As a process of determining the gains set to 0, 41, 42, and 43, the gain DEGR of the rotation angle of the light shielding cam 40A is set based on the coordinate values (XR, YR) so that the position of the cut line 70 matches YR. Based on the coordinate values (XL, YL), the gain DEGL of the rotation angle of the light shielding cam 42A is determined so that the position of the cut line 72 coincides with YL. The gains DEGR and DEGL are determined by, for example, a map showing a predetermined relationship between YR and DEGR, Y
It can be determined with reference to a map showing the relationship between L and DEGL. Then, the gain DEGR of the rotation angle of the light-shielding cam 40A and the gain DEGL of the rotation angle of 42A determined as described above are output to the control device 50 as a light distribution control signal.

As described above, the control device 50 that has received this light distribution control signal determines in step 110 shown in FIG. 5 that the main control device 80 is in a state in which another vehicle can be detected, and in the next step 112. , Input gain DEGR,
The motors 40D and 42D of the actuators 40 and 42 are driven based on the DEGL, the light shielding cams 40A and 42A are rotated, and the routine proceeds to step 114. The actuator 41 is driven similarly to the actuator 40, and the actuator 43 is driven similar to the actuator 42. As a result, the position of the cut line 70 is Y
It is controlled so that it coincides with R and the position of the cut line 72 coincides with YL. As described above, the coordinates of the other vehicle detected by the other vehicle recognition process represent the position of the central portion of the tail portion of the other vehicle, and the cut line by this control is the tail portion of the vehicle that is most likely to give glare. Since it is located near the center of the car, it does not give glare to other vehicles. However, Y
When the R and YL positions are lower than the lower limit position of the cut line, the cut line is lowered to the lower limit position.

In the next step 114, it is judged whether or not the light switch is in the on state, and if it is in the on state, step 1
Returning to 08, the above processing is repeated. On the other hand, when the light switch is not on, that is, when the driver turns off the light switch or when the surroundings of the vehicle become brighter than a predetermined value and the conlight system 82 sends an off signal to the control device 50, In step 122, the headlamp is turned off. In the next step 124, it is judged whether or not the position of the cut line of the headlamp is the neutral position, and if it is not the neutral position, step 1
In step 26, the same processing as in step 104 described above is performed, the cut line is positioned at the neutral position, and this control ends. On the other hand, if the cut line of the headlamp is at the neutral position in step 124, this control is ended while the cut line is kept at the neutral position.

According to the present embodiment described above, the cut line is positioned at the neutral position when the headlamp is turned off, the control is terminated, and the cut line is positioned at the neutral position when the headlamp is turned on again. Even when another vehicle is present in front of the host vehicle when the headlamp is turned on, the cut line is not at a high position such as the highest position, so that glare is not given to the driver of the other vehicle.

Further, the cut line is positioned at the neutral position even when the other vehicle cannot be detected even if the front of the vehicle is photographed by the TV camera, or when the image processing device is out of order. Since the headlamp is not turned on in the high position such as the highest position, glare is not given to the driver of another vehicle.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, an example has been described in which the cut line is positioned at the neutral position when the light switch is turned on and off, or when the unrecognizable signal from the main control device is input. However, the cut line may be located at the lowest position, for example.

Further, the control for automatically turning on / off the light switch in the conlight system has been described.
The present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to the case where the light switch is manually turned on and off.

Further, an example in which the control device controls the actuator for controlling the light distribution of the headlight and the control for turning on / off the headlamp has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the control of the entire vehicle is performed. It can also be applied to the case where the main control device that controls the headlight turns on and off when the light switch is turned on and off and the control device controls the actuator for light distribution control of the headlamp.

Further, the example in which the image processing apparatus sets the gain of the light-shielding cam for controlling the actuator has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may be applied to the case where the control apparatus performs this control. You can

Further, although the TV camera is used to image the situation in front of the vehicle, the present invention is not limited to this.

[0060]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the switch is turned on or off, the position of the boundary line detected by the boundary line detecting means is located at a predetermined position which does not give glare to the driver of another vehicle. It is determined whether or not it is present, and if it is not located at the predetermined position, the boundary line is located at the predetermined position, so that there is an excellent effect that glare is not given to another vehicle when the headlamp is turned on.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the other vehicle detecting means cannot detect the other vehicle, the boundary line is located at a predetermined position that does not give glare to the driver of the other vehicle. The effect of not being able to detect is that an excellent effect that a glare is not given to a driver of another vehicle is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a front portion of a vehicle used in the present embodiment as seen obliquely from the front of the vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a headlamp to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a control main routine of this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a routine for setting a rotation angle of a light shielding cam of the main control device.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a subroutine of another vehicle recognition processing in a routine for setting a turning angle of a light shielding cam of the main control device.

FIG. 8 is an image diagram for explaining a cut line displaced by an actuator.

9A is an image diagram of an image taken by a TV camera during the day, FIG. 9B is a conceptual diagram for explaining horizontal edge point integration processing, and FIG. 9C is a vertical edge detection processing. It is a conceptual diagram of.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a window area at the time of recognizing a white line.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a vehicle recognition area.

FIG. 12 is an image diagram for explaining that the vehicle recognition area is changed according to the vehicle speed.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a relationship between a vehicle speed and a correction width of an approximate straight line.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a relationship between a degree of a right curve road and a gain that determines a correction width of an approximate straight line on the right side.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the relationship between the degree of a right curve road and the gain that determines the correction width of the left approximate straight line.

FIG. 16 is an image diagram showing window regions and correction widths for curved roads having different curvatures.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a relationship between a degree of a left curved road and a gain that determines a correction width of an approximate straight line on the right side.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the relationship between the degree of a left curved road and the gain that determines the correction width of the left approximate straight line.

FIG. 19 is an image diagram showing an example of coordinates indicating the position of another vehicle detected by another vehicle recognition processing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 18 head lamp 20 head lamp 22 TV camera 40 actuator 42 actuator 48 image processing device 50 control device 70 cut line 72 cut line 82 conlite system

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A switch for turning on a headlamp of a host vehicle when turned on and turning off a headlamp of a host vehicle when turned off, and a boundary between an irradiation range and a non-irradiation range of the headlamp of the own vehicle. Boundary line changing means for changing the line, boundary line detecting means for detecting the position of the boundary line changed by the boundary line changing means, and when the switch is turned on or off, it is detected by the boundary line detecting means. It is determined whether the position of the boundary line is located at a predetermined position that does not give glare to the driver of another vehicle, and if the boundary line is not located at the predetermined position, the boundary line is located at the predetermined position. A headlamp irradiation range control device comprising: a control unit that controls the boundary line changing unit. 2. Boundary line changing means for changing the boundary line between the irradiation range and the non-irradiation range of the headlamp of the vehicle, and the boundary line detecting means for detecting the position of the boundary line changed by the boundary line changing means An other vehicle detection means for detecting the position of the other vehicle, and the irradiation range of the headlamp of the own vehicle does not give glare to the driver of the vehicle based on the position of the other vehicle detected by the other vehicle detection means. While controlling the boundary line changing means so as to position the boundary line at a position that becomes a region, the boundary line detected by the boundary line detection means when the other vehicle detection means cannot detect another vehicle When the position is located at a predetermined position that does not give glare to the driver of another vehicle, and the boundary line is not located at the predetermined position A headlamp irradiation range control device comprising: a control unit that controls the boundary line changing unit so that the boundary line is located at the predetermined position.