KR102585081B1 - Apparatus for controlling low beam of vehicle and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses a vehicle low beam control device and method. The low beam control device for a vehicle of the present invention includes a front detection unit that photographs the front of the vehicle; A ride height detection unit installed on the rear suspension of the vehicle to measure the ride height value; A vehicle speed detection unit that detects the vehicle speed of the vehicle; A low beam driving unit that drives the irradiation angle of the low beam up and down; And after calculating the inclination of the vehicle based on the height value input from the height detection unit, the correction condition for the inclination is determined based on the change in height value and the vehicle speed, and the captured image is input from the front detection unit according to the correction condition for the inclination. It is characterized by including a control unit that calculates the angle with the vehicle and corrects the inclination, and controls the low beam driving unit to drive the low beam up and down according to the inclination.

Description

Vehicle low beam control device and method {APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING LOW BEAM OF VEHICLE AND METHOD THEREOF}

The present invention relates to a low beam control device and method for a vehicle. More specifically, when controlling the low beam by calculating the inclination of the vehicle based on the height value installed on the vehicle's rear suspension, the vehicle in front is connected to the vehicle in front from the front image. It relates to a low beam control device and method for a vehicle that controls the low beam by calculating the angle and distance and correcting the inclination of the vehicle.

In general, bulb-type lamps have been mainly used as vehicle headlamps, but recently, high intensity discharge (HID) lamps have also been widely used as vehicle headlamps. The headlamp can be set to high beam or low beam depending on the angle of light irradiation.

When the headlamp is set to high beam, the driver's view is secured to a relatively long distance in front of the vehicle, allowing the driver to drive safely at night, but it may dazzle the driver of the vehicle coming from the opposite direction or the driver of the vehicle in front. . In addition, when the headlamp is set to low beam, glare on the driver of the vehicle coming from the opposite direction or the driver of the vehicle in front can be reduced, but compared to high beam, low beam is less effective in securing the driver's visibility.

In the case of conventional headlamps, the driver must manually operate the headlamp switch to set the headlamp to high beam or low beam. Therefore, when a vehicle approaches from the opposite direction, if the headlamp is not set to low beam due to the driver's carelessness, there is a risk of causing a traffic accident by dazzling the driver of the vehicle on the opposite side. Additionally, since the driver must operate the headlamp switch while driving, this operation is very cumbersome for the driver.

Therefore, to solve this inconvenience, when there is no oncoming vehicle ahead, the beam operates as a high beam. When the camera detects an oncoming vehicle ahead, the shield actuator is driven at specific intervals according to the distance between cars to avoid dazzling the oncoming vehicle. The Adaptive Cut-Off Line (aCOL) system is being applied, which secures driver visibility by irradiating light as far as possible from the range.

In addition, a system is provided that detects the inclination of the vehicle through a height sensor and controls the leveling actuator according to the change in inclination, thereby adjusting the irradiation angle of the headlamp.

This system detects the change in the height sensor mounted on the front and rear suspension while stopped as a change in the weight of the vehicle, determines this as the change in inclination of the vehicle, and performs ramp control. It also performs ramp control by determining the change in inclination of the vehicle while driving. Perform.

The background technology of the present invention is disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 2014-0030597 (published on March 12, 2014, adaptive cut-off line system and control method thereof).

Meanwhile, when performing ramp control by detecting the inclination of the vehicle, a height sensor may be mounted only on the rear suspension to perform ramp control based on the detected inclination of the vehicle.

In this way, when installing a single height sensor only on the rear suspension, with cargo loaded in the trunk of the vehicle, the front and rear suspension of the vehicle is lowered due to a passenger riding in the front seat, and the rear suspension is lowered with cargo loaded in the trunk of the vehicle. However, since the same height value is output for all lowered states, when the vehicle's inclination is calculated based on this, the same inclination is calculated.

However, in the former case, there is no change in the inclination of the vehicle because the front and rear suspensions are both lowered, and in the latter case, the inclination of the vehicle has changed because only the rear suspension is lowered. When ramp control is performed with the same inclination, There are conflicting problems.

In addition, when performing ramp control using a height sensor, since changes in the suspension are detected and controlled while driving, changes in the uphill/downhill slope of the road cannot be detected in advance, making it impossible to perform ramp control and causing danger to opposing vehicles. There are problems with glare or lack of visibility at a distance.

The present invention was made to improve the problems described above. The purpose of the present invention according to one aspect is to control the low beam by calculating the inclination of the vehicle based on the height value installed on the rear suspension of the vehicle, To provide a low beam control device and method for a vehicle that controls the low beam by calculating the angle and distance to the vehicle ahead and correcting the inclination of the vehicle.

A low beam control device for a vehicle according to one aspect of the present invention includes a front detection unit that photographs the front of the vehicle; A ride height detection unit installed on the rear suspension of the vehicle to measure the ride height value; A vehicle speed detection unit that detects the vehicle speed of the vehicle; A low beam driving unit that drives the irradiation angle of the low beam up and down; And after calculating the inclination of the vehicle based on the height value input from the height detection unit, the correction condition for the inclination is determined based on the change in height value and the vehicle speed, and the captured image is input from the front detection unit according to the correction condition for the inclination. It is characterized by including a control unit that calculates the angle with the vehicle and corrects the inclination, and controls the low beam driving unit to drive the low beam up and down according to the inclination.

In the present invention, the control unit is characterized by determining correction conditions for the tilt based on the tilt and maintenance time changed according to the vehicle speed.

In the present invention, the control unit identifies the vehicle ahead from the captured image and calculates the angle and inter-vehicle distance to the vehicle ahead when it is within the ramp control angle range.

In the present invention, the control unit is characterized by driving the low beam lights at different driving speeds depending on the distance between vehicles and vehicle speed when driving the low beam lights up and down depending on the inclination.

In the present invention, the control unit is characterized in that after correcting the inclination, if the vehicle in front is out of the ramp control angle range in the captured image, it returns to the inclination according to the height value for a set time.

A method for controlling the low beam of a vehicle according to another aspect of the present invention includes the steps of a control unit receiving the vehicle height value and vehicle speed from the vehicle height detection unit and the vehicle speed detection unit, respectively; A step where the control unit calculates the inclination of the vehicle based on the vehicle height value; A step where the control unit determines a correction condition for the tilt based on the change in height value and vehicle speed; A control unit receiving a captured image from a front detection unit according to a tilt correction condition and correcting the tilt of the vehicle; And a step where the control unit controls the low beam driving unit to drive the low beam up and down according to the inclination.

In the present invention, the step of determining the slope correction condition is characterized in that the control unit determines the slope based on the maintenance time of the slope changed according to the vehicle speed.

In the present invention, the step of correcting the inclination of the vehicle includes: the control unit identifying the vehicle ahead from the captured image; A step where the control unit determines whether the identified front vehicle exists within the lamp control angle range; A step where the control unit calculates an angle with the front vehicle when the front vehicle exists within the ramp control angle range; and a step where the control unit corrects the inclination of the vehicle based on the angle with the vehicle ahead.

In the present invention, if the preceding vehicle does not exist in the step of determining whether the preceding vehicle exists within the ramp control angle range, the control unit further includes a step of returning the corrected inclination to the inclination according to the height value for a set time. do.

In the present invention, the step of driving the low beam lights up and down is characterized in that the control unit drives the low beam beams at different driving speeds depending on the distance between vehicles and vehicle speed.

A vehicle low beam control device and method according to an aspect of the present invention calculates the inclination of the vehicle based on the height value installed on the rear suspension of the vehicle to control the low beam, and the angle with the front vehicle from the front image By calculating the distance and controlling the low beam by correcting the inclination of the vehicle, even when the front and rear suspensions are lowered or the inclination of the road changes, the inclination of the vehicle can be accurately calculated and the low beam can be controlled, improving long-distance visibility. and can reduce the glare of opposing vehicles.

1 is a block diagram showing a low beam control device for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a graph showing the height value maintenance time according to vehicle speed for determining correction conditions in a vehicle low beam control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figures 3 and 4 are exemplary diagrams showing a vehicle ahead in a video captured by a vehicle low beam control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling low beam lights of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a vehicle low beam control device and method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. In this process, the thickness of lines or sizes of components shown in the drawing may be exaggerated for clarity and convenience of explanation. In addition, the terms described below are terms defined in consideration of functions in the present invention, and may vary depending on the intention or custom of the user or operator. Therefore, definitions of these terms should be made based on the content throughout this specification.

Figure 1 is a block diagram showing a low beam control device for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 2 is a block diagram showing a vehicle speed for determining correction conditions in a low beam control device for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a graph showing the maintenance time of the vehicle height value, and Figures 3 and 4 are examples showing the vehicle ahead in the image captured by the low beam control device of the vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the low beam control device for a vehicle includes a front detection unit 10, a height detection unit 20, a vehicle speed detection unit 30, a low beam driving unit 50, and a control unit 40.

The front detection unit 10 is a camera for photographing the front of the vehicle. It not only detects the lamp height of the vehicle ahead by photographing the preceding vehicle and the opposing vehicle traveling in front of the vehicle and providing the captured image to the control unit 40. It also allows the distance between vehicles to be detected.

Here, the lamp height may be the height to the bottom of the taillight of the vehicle in front, or the height to the bottom of the headlight of the opposing vehicle.

The height detection unit 20 is installed on the rear suspension of the vehicle to measure the height value and provide the value to the control unit 40 to calculate the vehicle's inclination.

The vehicle speed detection unit 30 detects the vehicle speed and provides the control unit 40 with the ability to determine correction conditions or adjust the up and down driving speed of the low beam lights.

The low beam driving unit 50 drives the irradiation angle of the low beam (not shown) up and down to adjust the beam distance of the low beam.

The control unit 40 calculates the inclination of the vehicle based on the height value input from the height detection unit 20, determines the inclination correction condition based on the change in the height value and the vehicle speed, and determines the inclination correction condition for the front detection unit according to the inclination correction condition. The captured image is input from (10), the angle with the vehicle ahead is calculated, the tilt is corrected, and the low beam driver 50 is controlled according to the tilt to drive the low beam up and down.

Here, the control unit 40 can determine the correction condition for the tilt based on the tilt and maintenance time changed according to the vehicle speed.

For example, while stopped (less than 5 KPH), correction conditions can be determined by determining whether the vehicle's inclination due to the vehicle height value changes by more than 0.1 degrees and is maintained for more than 0.5 seconds, and while driving, it can be affected by the road environment. The time for which the vehicle's inclination remains changed by at least 0.1 degrees according to the vehicle height value can be set differently depending on the vehicle speed.

That is, in the case of low speed sections (5 to 40 KPH), if the height value maintenance time is maintained for 2 seconds, it can be judged as a correction condition. As the vehicle speed increases, the vehicle height value maintenance time is linearly reduced to 0.5 seconds for 120 KPH or higher. If the vehicle height value maintenance time is maintained, it can be judged as a correction condition.

In addition, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the control unit 40 can identify the vehicle ahead from the captured image and calculate the angle and inter-vehicle distance with the vehicle ahead when it is within the lamp control angle range of the low beam beam.

Figure 3 is an image taken on a horizontal road in a tilted state due to a lower height value. When there is a vehicle ahead within the lamp control angle range, the low beam height (B) is located at the horizontal angle, but the lamp height (A) of the vehicle ahead is It is located below the horizontal angle. Therefore, if a difference occurs by comparing the angle with the vehicle in front calculated according to the distance between vehicles and the lamp height (A) of the vehicle in front, and the inclination of the vehicle based on the height value, the inclination is corrected and the low beam lights are lowered based on the corrected inclination. is controlled downward.

Figure 4 is a captured image showing the front vehicle on a slope where the road ahead is uphill. When the front vehicle is within the ramp control angle range, the low beam height (B) is located at a horizontal angle, but the lamp height (A) of the front vehicle is It is located above the horizontal angle. Therefore, if a difference occurs by comparing the angle with the vehicle in front calculated according to the distance between vehicles and the lamp height (A) of the vehicle in front, and the inclination of the vehicle based on the height value, the inclination is corrected and the low beam lights are lowered based on the corrected inclination. is controlled upward.

In addition, when driving the low-beam lights up and down according to the slope, the control unit 40 can drive the low-beam headlights at a slower driving speed when the head-to-head distance is long and the vehicle speed is low, and when the head-to-head distance is short and the vehicle speed is high, the control unit 40 can drive the low-beam headlights at a low driving speed. It can be run quickly.

Meanwhile, after correcting the inclination, if the vehicle ahead does not exist outside the lamp control angle range in the captured image, the control unit 40 can return the inclination according to the height value for a set time and drive the low beam.

As described above, according to the low beam control device for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention, when controlling the low beam by calculating the inclination of the vehicle based on the height value installed on the rear suspension of the vehicle, the vehicle ahead is detected from the front image. By calculating the angle and distance from the vehicle and controlling the low beam by correcting the inclination of the vehicle, even when the front and rear suspensions are lowered or the inclination of the road changes, the inclination of the vehicle can be accurately calculated and the low beam can be controlled to control the low beam from a long distance. It can improve visibility and reduce glare from opposing vehicles.

Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling low beam lights of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the vehicle low beam control method according to an embodiment of the present invention, first, the control unit 40 inputs the vehicle height value and vehicle speed from the vehicle height detection unit 20 and the vehicle speed detection unit 30, respectively. Receive (S10).

Based on the height value input in step S10, the control unit 40 can calculate the inclination of the vehicle (S20).

After calculating the inclination of the vehicle in step S20, the control unit 40 may determine a correction condition for the inclination based on the change in height value and vehicle speed (S30).

In other words, it can be determined based on the maintenance time of the vehicle height value that changes depending on the vehicle speed.

For example, while stopped (less than 5 KPH), correction conditions can be determined by determining whether the vehicle's inclination due to the vehicle height value changes by more than 0.1 degrees and is maintained for more than 0.5 seconds, and while driving, it can be affected by the road environment. The time for which the vehicle's inclination remains changed by at least 0.1 degrees according to the vehicle height value can be set differently depending on the vehicle speed.

That is, in the case of low speed sections (5 to 40 KPH), if the height value maintenance time is maintained for 2 seconds, it can be judged as a correction condition. As the vehicle speed increases, the vehicle height value maintenance time is linearly reduced to 0.5 seconds for 120 KPH or higher. If the vehicle height value maintenance time is maintained, it can be judged as a correction condition.

If the correction condition for the tilt is determined in step S30 and the correction condition is not satisfied, the control unit 40 controls the low beam driver 50 based on the tilt of the vehicle calculated in step S20 to drive the low beam up and down ( S90).

However, if the correction condition for the tilt is determined in step S30 and the correction condition is satisfied, the control unit 40 receives the front captured image from the front detection unit 10 (S40).

From the captured image input in step S40, the control unit 40 determines the presence of a vehicle ahead (S50).

When determining the presence of the preceding vehicle in step S50, the control unit 40 may identify the preceding vehicle from the captured image and, if the preceding vehicle is not identified, determine that the preceding vehicle does not exist. In addition, the control unit 40 may determine whether the front vehicle exists within the lamp control angle range of the low beam beam even though the front vehicle has been identified, and determine that the front vehicle does not exist even if it does not exist within the lamp control angle range.

Therefore, if the presence of a vehicle ahead is determined from the captured image in step S50 and the vehicle ahead does not exist, the control unit 40 controls the low beam driver 50 based on the inclination of the vehicle calculated in step S20 to turn on the low beam. Drive up and down (S90).

Meanwhile, even when the vehicle in front does not exist while correcting the inclination by calculating the angle with the vehicle in front from the captured image, the control unit 40 calculates the inclination based on the vehicle height value detected by the vehicle height detection unit 20. By returning the corrected tilt for a set time, the low beam driving unit 50 can be controlled to drive the low beam up and down.

In step S50, if the presence of the vehicle ahead is determined from the captured image and the vehicle ahead exists, the control unit 40 can detect the lamp height and inter-vehicle distance of the vehicle ahead from the captured image as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. There is (S60).

After detecting the lamp height and distance between vehicles in front from the captured image in step S60, the control unit 40 can calculate the angle with the vehicle in front according to the distance between vehicles and the lamp height of the vehicle in front (S70).

After calculating the angle with the vehicle ahead in step S70, the control unit 40 can compare the inclination of the vehicle based on the vehicle height value and correct the inclination if a difference occurs (S80).

After correcting the slope in this way, the control unit 40 controls the low beam driver 50 according to the corrected slope to drive the low beam up and down (S90).

At this time, when driving the low beam up and down according to the slope, the control unit 40 can drive the low beam at a slower driving speed when the distance between cars is long and the vehicle speed is slow, and can drive the low beam at a faster driving speed when the distance between cars is short and the vehicle speed is high. It can be driven.

As described above, according to the vehicle low beam control method according to the embodiment of the present invention, when the low beam is controlled by calculating the inclination of the vehicle based on the height value installed on the rear suspension of the vehicle, the front vehicle is detected from the front image. By calculating the angle and distance from the vehicle and controlling the low beam by correcting the inclination of the vehicle, even when the front and rear suspensions are lowered or the inclination of the road changes, the inclination of the vehicle can be accurately calculated and the low beam can be controlled to control the low beam from a long distance. It can improve visibility and reduce glare from opposing vehicles.

The present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, but these are merely exemplary, and those skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications and other equivalent embodiments are possible therefrom. You will understand.

Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention should be determined by the claims below.

10: front detection unit 20: vehicle height detection unit
30: vehicle speed detection unit 40: control unit
50: low beam driving unit

Claims (10)

A front detection unit that photographs the front of the vehicle;
A height detection unit installed on the rear suspension of the vehicle to measure the height value;
a vehicle speed detection unit that detects the vehicle speed of the vehicle;
A low beam driving unit that drives the irradiation angle of the low beam up and down; and
After calculating the inclination of the vehicle based on the height value input from the height detection unit, the correction condition for the inclination is determined based on the change in the height value and the vehicle speed, and the inclination correction condition is determined from the front detection unit according to the inclination correction condition. A control unit that receives the captured image, calculates the angle with the vehicle ahead, corrects the tilt, and controls the low beam driving unit according to the tilt to drive the low beam up and down,
The control unit determines a correction condition for the inclination by linearly reducing a reference time for comparison with a maintenance time during which the changed state of the height value is maintained as the vehicle speed of the vehicle increases. Low beam control device.
delete The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the control unit identifies the vehicle ahead from the captured image and calculates the angle and inter-vehicle distance with the vehicle ahead when it is within the lamp control angle range of the low beam beam. Low beam control device.
The low beam control device of claim 3, wherein the control unit drives the low beam lights at different driving speeds depending on the distance between vehicles and the vehicle speed when driving the low beam lights up and down according to the inclination. .
The vehicle according to claim 3, wherein after correcting the tilt, the control unit returns the tilt according to the height value for a set time when the preceding vehicle in the captured image is outside the ramp control angle range. low beam control device.
A step where the control unit receives the vehicle height value and vehicle speed from the vehicle height detection unit and the vehicle speed detection unit, respectively;
The control unit calculating an inclination of the vehicle based on the height value;
The control unit determining a correction condition for the slope based on the change in the height value and the vehicle speed;
The control unit receiving a captured image from a front detection unit according to a tilt correction condition and correcting the tilt of the vehicle; and
A step wherein the control unit controls the low beam driving unit to drive the low beam up and down according to the inclination,
The step of determining the correction condition for the slope is characterized in that the control unit determines a reference time for comparison with a maintenance time during which the changed state of the height value is maintained by linearly decreasing it as the vehicle speed of the vehicle increases. A vehicle's low beam control method.
delete The method of claim 6, wherein correcting the tilt of the vehicle includes: identifying the vehicle ahead from the captured image by the control unit;
The control unit determining whether the identified front vehicle exists within the lamp control angle range of the low beam beam;
The control unit calculating an angle with the preceding vehicle when the preceding vehicle exists within the ramp control angle range; and
A low beam control method for a vehicle, wherein the control unit corrects the tilt of the vehicle based on the angle with the vehicle ahead.
The method of claim 8, wherein in the step of determining whether the preceding vehicle exists within the ramp control angle range, if the preceding vehicle does not exist, the control unit adjusts the corrected inclination to the inclination according to the height value for a set time. A method of controlling low beams of a vehicle, further comprising the step of returning them.
The method of claim 6, wherein in the step of driving the low beam lights up and down, the control unit drives the low beam beams at different driving speeds depending on the distance between vehicles and the vehicle speed.

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