HIGH-VOLUME, LONG-RANGE HEADLAMP AIMING

• US 20170336285A1
• Filed: 08/07/2017
• Published: 11/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Ekladyous, Albert, LaHaie, Diane Marie, Mady, Ghassan E., Curwood, Simon Howard, Adams-Campos, Kelley Maria, Singh, Hardyal, Spencer, Jeffrey Paul
• Granted Patent: US 10,527,519 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 1/4257 applied to monitoring the characteristics of a beam, e.g. laser beam, headlamp beam monitoring arrangements for lasers in general H01S3/0014
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 11/061 Details of the mechanical construction of the light measuring system G01M11/064 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 11/064 by using camera or other imaging system for the light analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 11/065 details about the image analysis

Abstract

A system for aiming a headlamp of a vehicle includes a displaceable aiming surface and an imaging system. The imaging system includes a translatable aim box carrying at least one headlamp imager oriented to capture images of a single headlamp and/or one or more vehicle features adjacent to the single headlamp. At least one fixed imager is oriented to capture one or more images of the displaceable aiming surface. The translatable aim box may be configured to translate between the single headlamp and another headlamp. One or more computing devices are configured to perform methods for headlamp aim correction using the described system. Methods for headlamp aim correction are described.

Claims

1. A system for aiming a headlamp of a vehicle, comprising:

a displaceable aiming surface; and

an imaging system comprising;

a translatable aim box carrying a headlamp imager oriented to capture one or more images of a single headlamp of the vehicle and/or one or more features of the vehicle adjacent to the single headlamp; and

at least one fixed imager oriented to capture one or more images of the displaceable aiming surface.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the displaceable aiming surface comprises a pair of panels adapted to selectively displace to allow passage of the vehicle therethrough.

3. The system of claim 1, further including one or more computing devices each comprising at least one processor, at least one memory, and storage, the at least one processor being configured to receive image inputs from the imaging system and to calculate therefrom an aim correction for the single headlamp and/or of an adjacent headlamp of the vehicle.

4. The system of claim 3, further including an adjuster configured for performing the calculated aim correction in response to commands received from the at least one processor.

5. A system for aiming a headlamp of a vehicle, comprising:

an aiming surface; and

an imaging system comprising;

an aim box carrying a headlamp imager oriented to capture one or more images of a single headlamp of the vehicle and/or one or more features of the vehicle adjacent to the single headlamp; and

at least one fixed imager oriented to capture one or more images of the aiming surface;

wherein the aim box is adapted to prevent light emitted by another headlamp of the vehicle from reaching the headlamp imager.

6. The headlamp aiming system of claim 5, wherein the aiming surface is configured to selectively displace to allow passage of the vehicle.

7. The headlamp aiming system of claim 5, wherein the aim box is adapted to translate between the single headlamp and another headlamp of the vehicle.

8. The headlamp aiming system of claim 7, further including one or more computing devices each comprising at least one processor, at least one memory, and storage, the at least one processor being configured to receive image inputs from the imaging system and to calculate therefrom an aim correction of the single headlamp and/or of the another headlamp.

9. The headlamp aiming system of claim 8, further including an adjuster configured for performing the calculated aim correction in response to commands received from the at least one processor.

10. A method for aiming a headlamp of a vehicle, comprising:

providing an aim box carrying a headlamp imager;

by the headlamp imager, determining a first headlamp optical center by imaging a first headlamp and/or a first headlamp-adjacent feature of the vehicle while concurrently, by the aim box, blocking light emitted by a second headlamp of the vehicle from reaching the headlamp imager;

by at least one fixed imager aimed at an aiming surface, capturing at least one image of a low beam cutoff of the second headlamp;

translating the aim box from the first headlamp to the second headlamp and determining a second headlamp optical center by imaging the second headlamp and/or a second headlamp-adjacent feature of the vehicle while concurrently, by the aim box, blocking light emitted by the first headlamp from reaching the headlamp imager; and

by the at least one fixed imager, capturing at least one image of a first headlamp low beam cutoff.

11. The method of claim 10, including determining a second headlamp cutoff height from the at least one image of the second headlamp low beam cutoff.

12. The method of claim 11, including determining a first headlamp cutoff height from the at least one image of the first headlamp low beam cutoff.

13. The method of claim 12, including calculating an aim correction for the first headlamp and the second headlamp from the determined first headlamp optical center, second headlamp optical center, first headlamp cutoff height, and second headlamp cutoff height.

14. The method of claim 13, including providing one or more computing devices each comprising at least one processor, at least one memory, and storage, the at least one processor being configured to execute computer-readable instructions for:

determining the first headlamp optical center and the second headlamp optical center from the at least one image of the first headlamp and/or first headlamp-adjacent feature and the at least one image of the second headlamp and/or second headlamp-adjacent feature; and

determining the first headlamp cutoff height and the second headlamp cutoff height from the at least one image of the first headlamp low beam cutoff and the at least one image of the second headlamp low beam cutoff; and

calculating any required aim correction for the first headlamp and/or the second headlamp.

15. The method of claim 14, further including performing the calculated aim correction by an adjuster controlled by the at least one processor.

16. The method of claim 10, including positioning the vehicle at least 25 feet from the aiming surface to perform the method.

17. The method of claim 16, including providing a divided aiming surface comprising a pair of displaceable panels.