METHOD FOR CONTROLLING A HEADLIGHT

• US 20170036592A1
• Filed: 08/03/2016
• Published: 02/09/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hella KGaA Hueck & Company
• Original Assignee: Hella KGaA Hueck & Company
• Inventors: Hoffmann, Ingo
• Granted Patent: US 9,738,215 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 2300/056 Special anti-blinding beams, e.g. a standard beam is chopped or moved in order not to blind
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/42 oncoming vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/45 Special conditions, e.g. pedestrians, road signs or potential dangers

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for controlling a light distribution of a headlight, in particular of a headlight comprising one illuminant or comprising a plurality of illuminants which generates or generate an adaptable light distribution, wherein a glare region of the light distribution is defined with a glare distance outside which no causing of glare for a road user is effected, wherein an optical monitoring device having a monitoring region having a monitoring boundary is provided, wherein a luminous object is identifiable as a road user only within the monitoring region, wherein upon recognition or supposition of at least one luminous object which is outside the monitoring region but within the glare region, the at least one headlight is driven such that the glare distance is adapted, such as in particular reduced.

Claims

1. Method for controlling a light distribution of a headlight, in particular of a headlight comprising one illuminant or comprising a plurality of illuminants which generates or generate an adaptable light distribution, wherein a glare region of the light distribution is defined with a glare distance outside which no causing of glare for a road user is effected, wherein an optical monitoring device having a monitoring region having a monitoring boundary is provided, wherein a luminous object is identifiable as a road user only within the monitoring region, wherein upon recognition or supposition of at least one luminous object which is outside the monitoring region but within the glare region, the at least one headlight is driven such that the glare distance is adapted, such as in particular reduced.

2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the glare distance is reduced if the glare region is set to be larger than the monitoring region, in particular if the glare region corresponds to the maximum glare region.

3. Method according to claim 1, wherein the glare distance remains unchanged or is increased if the glare region is set to be smaller than the monitoring region or in a manner corresponding to the monitoring region.

4. Method according to claim 1, wherein the adaptation, such as in particular the reduction, of the glare distance of the at least one headlight is effected on the basis of a residence probability of the luminous object.

5. Method according to claim 1, wherein for reducing the glare region and/or the glare distance, the intensity of the light of the headlight is reduced.

6. Method according to claim 5, wherein the intensity of the light of the headlight is reduced in a predefined areal or spatial region, such that the glare distance is reduced in a predefined areal or spatial region, in particular in front of a motor vehicle.

7. Method according to claim 4, wherein the residence probability of the luminous object outside the monitoring region and within the glare region is determined.

8. Method according to claim 4, wherein the residence probability of the luminous object is determined on the basis of the data of the monitoring device.

9. Method according to claim 8, wherein the residence probability of the luminous object is composed of the probability of the luminous object being an object at risk of glare or being assumed to be such and/or the probability of the object at risk of glare being situated in the glare region or in the illumination region of the headlight and/or the probability of an object being present.

10. Method according to claim 9, wherein the illumination region is composed of the monitoring region, the glare region and a region in front of the glare region in which no glare takes place.

11. Method according to claim 1, wherein during the reduction of the intensity of the light of the headlight, the intensity profile of the light of the object is used for classifying the object.

14. Method according to claim 1, wherein the glare region of the headlight is divided into a safe zone and into a comfort zone, wherein no damage to the eye and no serious visual restrictions are present in the safe zone and no glare effect is present in the comfort zone.

15. Method according to claim 1, wherein the reduction of the glare region in the case of residence probabilities below a threshold value is effected in such a way that the object is situated at least in the safe zone.

16. Method according to claim 1, wherein the reduction given the presence of a residence probability above a threshold value is effected in such a way that the object is situated at least in the comfort zone.

17. Method according to claim 1, wherein in the case of an unsafe distance determination for the object, the glare region of the headlight is reduced in such a way that all objects are situated at least in a safe zone.

18. Method according to claim 1, wherein the light intensity is reduced in a region having increased brightness compared with the surrounding distribution.

19. Method according to claim 1, wherein the reduction of the light intensity is achieved by reducing or switching off superimposing light sources or light distributions which are used for generating a matrix high beam and/or which lie in the region in which at least one spotlight or spotlights is or are additionally superimposed on the matrix high beam and/or lies or lie in a region centrally with respect to the matrix high beam.

20. Method according to claim 1, wherein an object is regarded as not classifiable or as not identifiable as a road user if the classification method yields no result or yields no result with sufficient quality or yields no result in a predefined time period or the classification method yields no result by the time a predefined distance of the object is undershot, or if a method for preclassification yields no result or yields no result with sufficiently good quality.

21. Method according to claim 1, wherein the illumination region is extended if the probability of an object at risk of glare being situated outside the monitoring region decreases or becomes zero or falls below a threshold value.

22. Method according to claim 1, wherein the reduction of the light distribution is reversed by the superimposing light distribution being switched on again, in particular switched on in a stepwise manner.

23. Method according to claim 1, wherein the glare region or the illumination zone is reduced given the presence of a glare probability, wherein the glare region or the illumination zone is reduced or shortened when objects are present outside the classification range, and/or the glare region or the illumination zone is reduced or shortened when non-classifiable objects are present, and/or the glare region or the illumination zone is reduced or shortened when non-visible regions are detected.

24. Motor vehicle comprising at least one headlight, advantageously comprising two headlights, and comprising an optical monitoring device for carrying out a method of claim 1.

12. Method for controlling a light distribution of a headlight, in particular of a headlight comprising one illuminant or comprising a plurality of illuminants which generates or generate an adaptable light distribution, wherein a glare region of the light distribution is defined with a glare distance outside which no causing of glare for a road user is effected, wherein an optical monitoring device having a monitoring region having a monitoring boundary is provided, wherein an object is identifiable as a road user only within the monitoring region, wherein upon recognition of an object which might be a road user or upon supposition of a road user, which object or which road user is outside the monitoring region but within the glare region, the at least one headlight is driven such that the glare distance is reduced.

13. Method according to claim 12, wherein the residence probability of a recognized object and/or of a supposed road user outside the monitoring region and within the glare region is determined.