WO2023074902A1 - アクティブセンサ、物体識別システム、車両用灯具 - Google Patents

アクティブセンサ、物体識別システム、車両用灯具 Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2023074902A1
WO2023074902A1 PCT/JP2022/040808 JP2022040808W WO2023074902A1 WO 2023074902 A1 WO2023074902 A1 WO 2023074902A1 JP 2022040808 W JP2022040808 W JP 2022040808W WO 2023074902 A1 WO2023074902 A1 WO 2023074902A1
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Prior art keywords
active sensor
irradiation range
light
sensor
light source
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Ceased
Application number
PCT/JP2022/040808
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English (en)
French (fr)
Japanese (ja)
Inventor
健典 和間
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Koito Manufacturing Co Ltd
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Koito Manufacturing Co Ltd
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Publication date
Application filed by Koito Manufacturing Co Ltd filed Critical Koito Manufacturing Co Ltd
Priority to CN202280073286.9A priority Critical patent/CN118284825A/zh
Priority to JP2023556706A priority patent/JPWO2023074902A1/ja
Priority to EP22887227.1A priority patent/EP4428569A4/en
Priority to US18/706,239 priority patent/US20250004137A1/en
Publication of WO2023074902A1 publication Critical patent/WO2023074902A1/ja
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S17/00—Systems using the reflection or reradiation of electromagnetic waves other than radio waves, e.g. lidar systems
    • G01S17/88—Lidar systems specially adapted for specific applications
    • G01S17/89—Lidar systems specially adapted for specific applications for mapping or imaging
    • G01S17/894—Three-dimensional [3D] imaging with simultaneous measurement of time-of-flight at a two-dimensional [2D] array of receiver pixels, e.g. time-of-flight cameras or flash lidar
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S17/00—Systems using the reflection or reradiation of electromagnetic waves other than radio waves, e.g. lidar systems
    • G01S17/02—Systems using the reflection of electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
    • G01S17/06—Systems determining position data of a target
    • G01S17/08—Systems determining position data of a target for measuring distance only
    • G01S17/10—Systems determining position data of a target for measuring distance only using transmission of interrupted, pulse-modulated waves
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S17/00—Systems using the reflection or reradiation of electromagnetic waves other than radio waves, e.g. lidar systems
    • G01S17/02—Systems using the reflection of electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
    • G01S17/06—Systems determining position data of a target
    • G01S17/08—Systems determining position data of a target for measuring distance only
    • G01S17/10—Systems determining position data of a target for measuring distance only using transmission of interrupted, pulse-modulated waves
    • G01S17/18—Systems determining position data of a target for measuring distance only using transmission of interrupted, pulse-modulated waves wherein range gates are used
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S17/00—Systems using the reflection or reradiation of electromagnetic waves other than radio waves, e.g. lidar systems
    • G01S17/88—Lidar systems specially adapted for specific applications
    • G01S17/93—Lidar systems specially adapted for specific applications for anti-collision purposes
    • G01S17/931—Lidar systems specially adapted for specific applications for anti-collision purposes of land vehicles
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S7/00—Details of systems according to groups G01S13/00, G01S15/00, G01S17/00
    • G01S7/48—Details of systems according to groups G01S13/00, G01S15/00, G01S17/00 of systems according to group G01S17/00
    • G01S7/4802—Details of systems according to groups G01S13/00, G01S15/00, G01S17/00 of systems according to group G01S17/00 using analysis of echo signal for target characterisation; Target signature; Target cross-section
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S7/00—Details of systems according to groups G01S13/00, G01S15/00, G01S17/00
    • G01S7/48—Details of systems according to groups G01S13/00, G01S15/00, G01S17/00 of systems according to group G01S17/00
    • G01S7/481—Constructional features, e.g. arrangements of optical elements
    • G01S7/4811—Constructional features, e.g. arrangements of optical elements common to transmitter and receiver
    • G01S7/4813—Housing arrangements
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S7/00—Details of systems according to groups G01S13/00, G01S15/00, G01S17/00
    • G01S7/48—Details of systems according to groups G01S13/00, G01S15/00, G01S17/00 of systems according to group G01S17/00
    • G01S7/481—Constructional features, e.g. arrangements of optical elements
    • G01S7/4814—Constructional features, e.g. arrangements of optical elements of transmitters alone
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S7/00—Details of systems according to groups G01S13/00, G01S15/00, G01S17/00
    • G01S7/48—Details of systems according to groups G01S13/00, G01S15/00, G01S17/00 of systems according to group G01S17/00
    • G01S7/483—Details of pulse systems
    • G01S7/484—Transmitters
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S7/00—Details of systems according to groups G01S13/00, G01S15/00, G01S17/00
    • G01S7/48—Details of systems according to groups G01S13/00, G01S15/00, G01S17/00 of systems according to group G01S17/00
    • G01S7/497—Means for monitoring or calibrating
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60Q—ARRANGEMENT OF SIGNALLING OR LIGHTING DEVICES, THE MOUNTING OR SUPPORTING THEREOF OR CIRCUITS THEREFOR, FOR VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60Q1/00—Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor
    • B60Q1/0017—Devices integrating an element dedicated to another function
    • B60Q1/0023—Devices integrating an element dedicated to another function the element being a sensor, e.g. distance sensor, camera

Definitions

  • the present disclosure relates to active sensors.
  • An object identification system that senses the position and type of objects around the vehicle is used for automated driving and automatic control of headlamp light distribution.
  • An object identification system includes a sensor and a processor that analyzes the output of the sensor. Sensors are selected from cameras, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging, Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging), millimeter-wave radar, ultrasonic sonar, etc., taking into consideration the application, required accuracy, and cost.
  • LiDAR Light Detection and Ranging, Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging
  • millimeter-wave radar ultrasonic sonar
  • a passive sensor detects light emitted by an object or light reflected by an object from ambient light, and the sensor itself does not emit light.
  • an active sensor irradiates an object with illumination light and detects the reflected light.
  • the active sensor mainly includes a projector (illumination) that irradiates light on an object and an optical sensor that detects reflected light from the object.
  • Active sensors have the advantage of being able to increase resistance to disturbances compared to passive sensors by matching the wavelength of illumination light with the sensitivity wavelength range of the sensor.
  • the illumination light is composed of a semiconductor light source such as a laser diode (LD).
  • the output (luminous flux) of the semiconductor light source that is, the amount of illumination light, decreases as the temperature of the semiconductor light source rises.
  • the present disclosure has been made in view of such problems, and one exemplary purpose of certain embodiments thereof is to provide an active sensor capable of suppressing a decrease in object sensing accuracy due to a temperature rise.
  • the active sensor includes a semiconductor light source, an optical system that irradiates a controllable irradiation range with the light emitted from the semiconductor light source, an optical sensor that detects the reflected light of the light emitted from the optical system by an object, and an output of the semiconductor light source. and a light distribution controller that controls the optical system so that the irradiation range is narrowed in accordance with the decrease in .
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an active sensor according to an embodiment
  • FIG. 2A and 2B are diagrams for explaining the operation of the active sensor of FIG. 1.
  • FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of changes in light distribution of the active sensor of FIG. 1
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a ToF (Time Of Flight) camera according to an embodiment
  • FIG. It is a figure explaining operation
  • FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams for explaining images obtained by the ToF camera.
  • 1 is a block diagram of an active sensor according to Example 1
  • FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an active sensor according to Example 2
  • FIGS. 9A to 9C are diagrams for explaining an example of controlling the irradiation range based on the image data IMG.
  • FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an active sensor according to Example 3
  • FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a vehicle lamp incorporating an active sensor
  • 1 is a block diagram showing a
  • An active sensor includes a semiconductor light source, an optical system that irradiates a controllable irradiation range with light emitted from the semiconductor light source, and an optical sensor that detects light reflected by an object from the light emitted from the optical system. and a light distribution controller that controls the optical system so that the irradiation range is narrowed according to the decrease in the output of the semiconductor light source.
  • the irradiation range is narrowed and the output light of the semiconductor light source is concentrated in a part of the field of view. A decrease in sensing accuracy within the range can be suppressed.
  • the light distribution controller may narrow the irradiation range as the temperature of the semiconductor light source increases. By monitoring the temperature of the semiconductor light source, it is possible to estimate the decrease in the output of the semiconductor light source, so that the irradiation range can be adaptively controlled.
  • the light distribution controller may narrow the irradiation range according to the decrease in the output of the optical sensor.
  • a decrease in illuminance can be detected by monitoring the output of the optical sensor.
  • the optical sensor is an image sensor, and the output of the optical sensor may be pixel values of a given object included in the image of the image sensor.
  • the light distribution controller may widen the irradiation range when the output of the optical sensor exceeds the first threshold after narrowing the irradiation range. In one embodiment, the light distribution controller may narrow the illumination range and then widen the illumination range after a predetermined period of time.
  • the processing unit downstream of the active sensor stops processing based on the output of the active sensor. good too. Arithmetic processing is exemplified by object detection and identification (classification). As a result, erroneous detection and erroneous determination can be prevented by stopping object detection and classification when the amount of reflected light from the object is small.
  • the semiconductor light source may emit pulsed light
  • the optical sensor may detect reflected light at timing synchronized with the pulsed light emission.
  • the optical sensor is an image sensor
  • the active sensor divides the field of view into a plurality of ranges in the depth direction, and corresponds to a plurality of ranges by changing the time difference between light emission and imaging for each range. It may be a ToF camera capable of generating multiple images.
  • the active sensor may be LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging, Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging).
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an active sensor 100 according to an embodiment.
  • the active sensor 100 is a ToF camera, LIDAR, or the like, and includes an illumination device 110, an optical sensor 120, and a sensing controller .
  • the illumination device 110 includes a semiconductor light source 112 , an optical system 114 and a light distribution controller 116 .
  • Semiconductor light source 112 includes a laser diode, a light emitting diode (LED), or the like.
  • the wavelength of the light emitted from the semiconductor light source 112 is not particularly limited, and may be infrared light, visible light, or white light.
  • the optical system 114 irradiates the controllable irradiation range A with the light emitted from the semiconductor light source 112 .
  • the irradiation range A is shown as a rectangle in FIG. 1, its shape is not particularly limited, and may be an ellipse or other shapes.
  • FIG. 1 shows two irradiation ranges Aw and An having different widths, the number of switchable irradiation ranges A is not limited to two.
  • a change in the irradiation range A by the optical system 114 is based on a change in the angle of emission of light from the optical system 114 and can be realized by changing the combined focal length of the optical elements included in the optical system 114 .
  • the irradiation range A may be switchable in two steps, may be switchable in multiple steps, or may be switchable continuously.
  • the configuration of the optical system 114 is not particularly limited, and can be configured with a lens optical system, a reflection optical system, or a combination thereof.
  • the optical sensor 120 has sensitivity to the same wavelength as the output light of the semiconductor light source 112 .
  • Optical sensor 120 detects reflected light L 2 that object OBJ within the sensing range (field of view) of active sensor 100 reflects emitted light (illumination light) L 1 from optical system 114 .
  • the sensing controller 130 comprehensively controls the active sensor 100 . Specifically, the light emission of the semiconductor light source 112 of the illumination device 110 and the sensing by the optical sensor 120 are synchronously controlled.
  • the light distribution controller 116 controls the optical system 114 so that the irradiation range A narrows according to the output of the semiconductor light source 112, that is, the decrease in the luminous flux.
  • the functions of the light distribution controller 116 may be implemented in the same hardware as the sensing controller 130, such as a microcontroller, CPU (Central Processing Unit), FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).
  • FIG. 1 the configuration of the active sensor 100.
  • FIG. 1 the case where the irradiation range A is switched between two stages of Aw and An will be described.
  • the irradiation range Aw of FIG. 2(a) is selected.
  • the irradiation range An of FIG. 2(b) is selected.
  • FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of changes in light distribution of the active sensor 100 of FIG.
  • the hatching density within the irradiation range indicates the illuminance.
  • the semiconductor light source 112 emits light with a designed value of luminous flux, and a wide irradiation range Aw is selected.
  • the luminous flux of the semiconductor light source 112 is reduced in the state of the wide irradiation range Aw.
  • the illuminance in the irradiation range Aw decreases (sparse hatching).
  • a narrow irradiation range An is selected, resulting in state ⁇ 2 .
  • the luminous flux of the semiconductor light source 112 is reduced, but since the irradiation range An is also narrowed, it is possible to suppress a decrease in illuminance compared to the initial state ⁇ 0 . This suppresses a decrease in the amount of reflected light from the object and improves the sensing accuracy.
  • the above is the operation of the active sensor 100. Next, applications of the active sensor 100 will be described.
  • One example of the active sensor 100 is a ToF (Time of Flight) camera.
  • FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a ToF camera 20 according to one embodiment.
  • the ToF camera 20 performs imaging by dividing the field of view into a plurality of N (N ⁇ 2) ranges RNG 1 to RNG N in the depth direction.
  • the ToF camera 20 includes an illumination device 22, an image sensor 24, a controller 26, and an image processing section 28.
  • Illumination device 22 corresponds to illumination device 110 in FIG. 1
  • image sensor 24 corresponds to photosensor 120 in FIG. 1
  • controller 26 corresponds to sensing controller 130 in FIG.
  • the lighting device 22 emits pulsed illumination light L1 forward of the vehicle in synchronization with the light emission timing signal S1 given from the controller 26 .
  • the illumination light L1 is preferably infrared light, but is not limited to this and may be visible light having a predetermined wavelength.
  • the irradiation range of the illumination light L1 by the illumination device 22 is variable as described above.
  • the image sensor 24 is capable of exposure control synchronized with the photographing timing signal S2 given from the controller 26, and is configured to be capable of generating the range image IMG.
  • the image sensor 24 has sensitivity to the same wavelength as the illumination light L1, and captures reflected light (return light) L2 reflected by the object OBJ.
  • the controller 26 holds predetermined light emission timing and exposure timing for each range RNG.
  • the controller 26 When photographing a certain range RNG i , the controller 26 generates a light emission timing signal S1 and a photographing timing signal S2 based on the light emission timing and exposure timing corresponding to that range, and performs photographing.
  • the ToF camera 20 may generate multiple range images IMG 1 -IMG N corresponding to multiple ranges RNG 1 -RNG N.
  • FIG. An object included in the corresponding range RNG i is captured in the i-th range image IMG i .
  • FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the ToF camera 20.
  • FIG. FIG. 5 shows how the i-th range RNG i is measured.
  • the illumination device 22 emits light during a light emission period ⁇ 1 between times t 0 and t 1 in synchronization with the light emission timing signal S1.
  • At the top is a ray diagram with time on the horizontal axis and distance on the vertical axis.
  • dMINi be the distance from the ToF camera 20 to the front boundary of range RNG i
  • dMAXi be the distance to the rear boundary of range RNG i .
  • TMINi 2 ⁇ d MINi /c is.
  • c is the speed of light.
  • T MAXi 2 ⁇ d MAXi /c is.
  • FIG. 6A and 6B are diagrams for explaining images obtained by the ToF camera 20.
  • FIG. 6A an object (pedestrian) OBJ1 exists in the range RNG1
  • an object (vehicle) OBJ3 exists in the range RNG3 .
  • FIG. 6(b) shows a plurality of range images IMG 1 to IMG 3 obtained in the situation of FIG. 6(a).
  • the image sensor is exposed only by reflected light from the range RNG 1 , so the object image OBJ 1 of the pedestrian OBJ 1 appears in the range image IMG 1 .
  • range image IMG 2 When taking range image IMG 2 , the image sensor is exposed by reflected light from range RNG 2 , so range image IMG 2 does not show any object images.
  • the image sensor is exposed by reflected light from the range RNG 3 , so only the object image OBJ 3 appears in the range image IMG 3 .
  • an object can be photographed separately for each range.
  • the above is the operation of the ToF camera 20.
  • this ToF camera 20 by controlling the irradiation range A by the illumination device 22 according to the output of the semiconductor light source, it is possible to prevent the illuminance within the irradiation range A from being extremely lowered. As a result, even when the output of the semiconductor light source is reduced, the pixel values of the object appearing in the range image IMG are increased (that is, brighter), thereby suppressing deterioration in image quality.
  • FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the active sensor 100A according to the first embodiment.
  • Illumination device 110A includes temperature sensor 118 .
  • Temperature sensor 118 is arranged to detect the temperature of semiconductor light source 112 .
  • a thermistor, a thermocouple, or the like can be used as the temperature sensor 118 .
  • the light distribution controller 116 controls the optical system 114 based on the temperature of the semiconductor light source 112 detected by the temperature sensor 118 . Specifically, the light distribution controller 116 narrows the irradiation range A as the temperature of the semiconductor light source 112 increases. In a semiconductor light source such as a laser diode, the luminous flux decreases as the temperature rises when the same power is applied.
  • the light distribution controller 116 may select a wide irradiation range Aw when the temperature is lower than a predetermined threshold, and switch to a narrow irradiation range An when the temperature exceeds the threshold.
  • the area of the narrow irradiation range An is K times (K ⁇ 1) the area of the wide irradiation range Aw.
  • the temperature at which the output (luminous flux or luminance) of the semiconductor light source 112 is 1/K times higher than that at room temperature can be determined in advance, and the threshold value can be determined based on that temperature.
  • the irradiation range A When the irradiation range A is continuously variable, the irradiation range A may be gradually narrowed as the temperature increases.
  • FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an active sensor 100B according to the second embodiment.
  • Light distribution controller 116 of illumination device 110B controls irradiation range A based on the output of optical sensor 120 .
  • the optical sensor 120 can be specifically an image sensor.
  • the light distribution controller 116 controls the irradiation range A based on the pixel values of the image data IMG generated by the image sensor.
  • the irradiation range A may be controlled based on all range images, or may be controlled based on a range image corresponding to a specific range.
  • Figs. 9(a) to (c) are diagrams for explaining an example of control of the irradiation range based on the image data IMG.
  • the light distribution controller 116 can estimate the decrease in the output of the semiconductor light source 112 based on the total or average value of the pixel values of all the pixels of the image data IMG, and can control the irradiation range A. For example, when the total or average value of pixel values becomes lower than a predetermined threshold value, the irradiation range A is narrowed.
  • the irradiation range A may be returned to its original state.
  • the irradiation range may be returned to the original wide range when a predetermined time elapses.
  • an arithmetic processing device (not shown in FIG. 8, for example, in FIG. 10) after the active sensor 100B
  • the arithmetic processing unit 40 preferably stops arithmetic processing based on the output of the active sensor 100B. In such a situation, since the amount of reflected light from the object is small, erroneous detection and erroneous determination can be prevented by stopping object detection and classification.
  • sensing by the active sensor 100B continues even while the subsequent arithmetic processing is stopped. Then, when the output of the optical sensor 120 exceeds the second threshold value, the subsequent arithmetic processing is restarted.
  • the light distribution controller 116 controls the irradiation range A based on the pixel values of the predetermined region of interest ROI in the image data IMG.
  • the predetermined area ROI it is preferable to select an area where there is a high possibility that an object with a known reflectance will appear. For example, there is a high possibility that the road surface will appear in the area below the image, and the reflectance of the road surface is approximately constant. Therefore, pixels representing the road surface may be monitored, and the irradiation range A may be controlled based on the pixel values.
  • the light distribution controller 116 analyzes the image data IMG and detects the object OBJ. Then, the irradiation range A may be controlled based on the pixel values of the pixels in which the specific object OBJ is captured.
  • specific objects OBJ are cars, people, road signs, delineators, and road surfaces.
  • the amount of light detected by the optical sensor 120 changes according to the illuminance of the surface of the object and the distance to the object. Therefore, the light distribution controller 116 preferably controls the irradiation range A according to the pixel value of the detected object and the distance to the object. If the active sensor 100B is the ToF camera 20, distance information to the object can be easily guessed from the range number. Even when the active sensor 100B is a LiDAR or ToF camera, the distance to the object can be easily known.
  • the distance to the object may be estimated based on the number of pixels of the object included in the image.
  • the light distribution controller 116 may detect an object existing at a specific distance from the active sensor 100 and control the irradiation range based on the pixel values of the object.
  • FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an active sensor 100C according to the third embodiment.
  • optical sensor 120 is an image sensor and generates image data IMG.
  • the arithmetic processing unit 40 processes the image data IMG and detects the position of the object and the type of the object.
  • Arithmetic processing unit 40 may include, for example, a classifier or discriminator that includes a trained model.
  • the arithmetic processing unit 40 supplies the light distribution controller 116 with information regarding the success or failure of object detection and the identification rate in the arithmetic processing unit 40 .
  • the light distribution controller 116 may reduce the irradiation range A by estimating that the illuminance has decreased when the object cannot be normally detected by the processing unit 40 .
  • Light distribution controller 116 may be incorporated into processor 40 .
  • FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a vehicle lamp 200 incorporating the active sensor 100.
  • the vehicle lamp 200 includes a housing 210 , an outer lens 220 , high beam and low beam lamp units 230H/230L, and an active sensor 100 .
  • the lamp units 230H/230L and the active sensor 100 are housed in the housing 210. As shown in FIG.
  • a part of the active sensor 100 may be installed outside the vehicle lamp 200, for example, behind the rearview mirror.
  • FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a vehicle lamp 200 including the object identification system 10.
  • the vehicle lamp 200 constitutes a lamp system 310 together with a vehicle-side ECU 304 .
  • a vehicle lamp 200 includes a light source 202 , a lighting circuit 204 and an optical system 206 . Further, the vehicle lamp 200 is provided with the object identification system 10 .
  • Object identification system 10 includes active sensor 100 and processing unit 40 .
  • the arithmetic processing unit 40 is configured to be able to identify the type of object based on the image obtained by the active sensor 100 .
  • the arithmetic processing unit 40 can be implemented by combining a processor (hardware) such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), MPU (Micro Processing Unit), or microcomputer, and a software program executed by the processor (hardware).
  • a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), MPU (Micro Processing Unit), or microcomputer
  • the arithmetic processing unit 40 may be a combination of multiple processors. Alternatively, the arithmetic processing unit 40 may be composed only of hardware.
  • Information on the object OBJ detected by the processing unit 40 may be used for light distribution control of the vehicle lamp 200 .
  • the lamp-side ECU 208 generates an appropriate light distribution pattern based on the information about the type and position of the object OBJ generated by the arithmetic processing unit 40 .
  • the lighting circuit 204 and the optical system 206 operate so as to obtain the light distribution pattern generated by the lamp-side ECU 208 .
  • Information regarding the object OBJ detected by the processing unit 40 may be transmitted to the vehicle-side ECU 304 .
  • the vehicle-side ECU may perform automatic driving based on this information.
  • the active sensor 100 is not limited to a ToF camera, and may be a LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging, Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging). Alternatively, active sensor 100 may be a single-pixel imaging device (quantum radar) using correlation calculations.
  • LIDAR Light Detection and Ranging, Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging
  • active sensor 100 may be a single-pixel imaging device (quantum radar) using correlation calculations.
  • the present disclosure relates to active sensors.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Radar, Positioning & Navigation (AREA)
  • Remote Sensing (AREA)
  • Electromagnetism (AREA)
  • Optical Radar Systems And Details Thereof (AREA)
PCT/JP2022/040808 2021-11-01 2022-10-31 アクティブセンサ、物体識別システム、車両用灯具 Ceased WO2023074902A1 (ja)

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