Auto lighting system

• US 8,224,533 B2
• Filed: 05/28/2009
• Issued: 07/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi Astemo Ltd. (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Furusawa, Isao
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Khoi
• Assistant Examiner(s): Moyer, Dale
• Application Number:
  US12/473,790
• Publication Number:
  US 20090323366A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,146 Days
• Field of Search: 362464-466, 701/49, 701/36, 701/45, 250/208.1, 307/10.8, 315 82- 83, 340/425.5, 340468-469, 382103-104, 382106-107
• US Class Current: 701/49
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/143 combined with another condition, e.g. using vehicle recognition from camera images or activation of wipers
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/112 Vehicle speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/122 Steering angle
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/314 Ambient light
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/337 Tunnels or bridges
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/41 preceding vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/42 oncoming vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/56 exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle

Abstract

An auto lighting system that performs lighting control that corresponds to the driver'"'"'s visual perception is provided. An auto lighting system 1 includes imaging means 2 for capturing an image of the road ahead of a vehicle and lighting control means 3 for turning on or off lights such as headlights based on the image of the road ahead of the vehicle captured with the imaging means 2. The brightness ahead of the vehicle as perceived by the driver is recognized based on the image of the road ahead of the vehicle captured with the imaging means 2, and lighting control in which lights 101 are turned on or off is performed based on the brightness ahead of the vehicle.

Claims

1. An auto lighting system that turns on or off automotive lights in accordance with a brightness ahead of a vehicle, the auto lighting system comprising:

imaging means for capturing an image of a road ahead of the vehicle said imaging means including brightness recognition means for recognizing a brightness ahead of the vehicle based on the image; and

lighting control means for turning the lights on or off based on brightness, recognized recognition means, in a brightness judgment area of the image captured with the imaging means;

brightness judgment area setting means for setting the brightness judgment area in the captured image based on at least one of a driving condition of the vehicle and an environmental condition of the vehicle;

brightness calculation means for calculating a brightness of the brightness judgment area set by the brightness judgment area setting means;

first information collection means for collecting vehicle information concerning a vehicle driving condition, wherein the brightness judgment area setting means sets the brightness judgment area based on the vehicle information collected by the first information collection means; and

second information collection means for collecting information on an environmental condition of the vehicle, wherein the brightness judgment area setting means sets the brightness judgment area based on the information on the environmental condition of the vehicle collected by the second information collection means.

2. The auto lighting system according to claim 1, wherein:

the imaging means includes window setting means for setting a plurality of windows in the image; and

the brightness calculation means selects windows that are located in the brightness judgment area from among the plurality of windows, and calculates a brightness of the brightness judgment area based on a brightness of each of the selected windows.

3. The auto lighting system according to claim 2, wherein, after selecting the plurality of windows, the brightness calculation means removes the brightest window and the darkest window from the selected windows, calculates a mean value of brightness levels of the remaining Windows, and determines the calculation result as a brightness of the brightness judgment area.

4. The auto lighting system according to claim 1, wherein the brightness judgment area setting means sets in the image the brightness judgment area on a road surface ahead of the vehicle.

5. The auto lighting system according to claim 4, wherein the brightness judgment area is set on a farther side of the vehicle in a forward direction of the vehicle as a vehicle speed is higher, and is set on a side closer to the vehicle as the vehicle speed is lower.

6. The auto lighting system according to claim 1, wherein, when a vehicle speed is within a predetermined ultralow speed range or when a preceding vehicle is present, the brightness judgment area setting means sets in the image the brightness judgment area at a position above a front hood of the vehicle.

7. The auto lighting system according to claim 1, wherein when a vehicle speed is within a predetermined ultralow speed range or when a preceding vehicle is present, the brightness judgment area setting means, sets in the image the brightness judgment area at a predetermined height position above the preceding vehicle.

8. The auto lighting system according to claim 1, wherein, the lighting control means includes:

light mode selection means that selects from among three light modes including “

LIGHT OFF”

in which the lights are turned off, “

SMALL LIGHT ON”

in which small lights are turned on, and “

HEADLIGHT ON”

in which headlights are turned on, the “

LIGHT OFF”

when the brightness recognized by the brightness recognition means is greater than or equal to a predetermined first reference value, selects the “

SMALL LIGHT ON”

when the brightness is higher than a predetermined second reference value and lower than the predetermined first reference value, and selects the “

HEADLIGHT ON”

when the brightness is lower than the predetermined second reference value; and

light-driving means that drives the lights in accordance with the light mode selected by the light mode selection means.

9. The auto lighting system according to claim 8, wherein when a steering angle of the vehicle is greater than a predetermined threshold, or when a direction indicator of the vehicle is activated, the lighting control means, does not switch the conditions of the lights.

10. The auto lighting system according to claim 1, wherein:

the imaging means includes vanishing point calculation means for calculating a vanishing point of a vehicle driving road within the image,

the brightness judgment area setting means sets, in addition to said brightness judgment area, a first auxiliary judgment area in a region that extends across a region located at an outer side of a vehicle width direction of the vehicle driving road within the image, the region including a height position that is identical to a height position of the vanishing point; and

the lighting control means turns said on or off based on the brightness of the brightness judgment area and a brightness of the first auxiliary judgment area.

11. The auto lighting system according to claim 10, wherein:

when the brightness of the brightness judgment area has changed from a bright state to a dark state within a predetermined time, the lighting control means judges whether or not the brightness of the first auxiliary judgment area is higher than a predetermined third brightness reference value; and

when the brightness of the first auxiliary judgment area is determined to be higher than the predetermined third brightness reference value, the lighting control means sets the lights to an off state.

12. The auto lighting system according to claim 1, wherein:

the imaging means includes vanishing point calculation means for calculating a vanishing point of the vehicle driving road within the image;

the brightness judgment area setting means sets in addition to said brightness judgment area, a first auxiliary judgment area that extends across a region located at an outer side of the vehicle width direction of the vehicle driving road within the image;

said region includes a height position that is identical to a height position of the vanishing point;

the brightness judgment area setting means also sets a second auxiliary judgment area that extends across a region including the vanishing point within the image; and

the lighting control means turns said lights on or off based on the brightness of the brightness judgment area, brightness of the first auxiliary judgment area, and brightness of the second auxiliary judgment area.

13. The auto lighting system according to claim 12, wherein:

when the brightness of the brightness judgment area has changed from a bright state to a dark state within a predetermined time, the lighting control means judges whether or not the brightness of the first auxiliary judgment area and the brightness of the secondary auxiliary judgment area are higher than a predetermined third brightness reference value and a predetermined fourth brightness reference value, respectively; and

when the brightness of the first auxiliary judgment area and the brightness of the second auxiliary judgment area are determined to be lower than the predetermined third brightness reference value and the predetermined fourth brightness reference value, respectively, the lighting control means performs lighting control by setting the lights to on state.

14. The auto lighting system according to claim 13, wherein:

when the brightness of the first auxiliary judgment area is lower than the third brightness reference value and the brightness of the second auxiliary judgment area is higher than the fourth brightness reference value, the lighting control means waits for the passage of a predetermined time and judges whether or not the brightness of the brightness judgment area has increased after the passage of the predetermined time;

when the brightness of the brightness judgment area is determined to have exceeded a first reference value, the lighting control means sets the lights to an off state; and

when the brightness of the brightness judgment area remains unchanged in the dark state, the lighting control means sets the lights to an on state.

15. The auto lighting system according to claim 14, wherein, when a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle is not present and when the brightness of the first auxiliary judgment area is lower than the predetermined third brightness reference value and the brightness of the second auxiliary judgment area is higher than the predetermined fourth brightness reference value, the lighting control means sets the lights to an off state without waiting for the passage of the predetermined time.