Method for operating a headlight for a motor vehicle

• US 9,809,154 B2
• Filed: 11/07/2014
• Issued: 11/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Audi AG (Volkswagen AG)
• Original Assignee: Audi AG (Volkswagen AG)
• Inventors: Funk, Christian, Barmeyer, Florenz
• Primary Examiner(s): WHITE, DYLAN C
• Application Number:
  US15/103,831
• Publication Number:
  US 20160332559A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,096 Days
• Field of Search: 315 82
• 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 2300/112 Vehicle speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/332 on city roads
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/333 on suburban or country roads
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/334 on motorways
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/335 Number or size of road lanes
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/41 preceding vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/42 oncoming vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/588 Recognition of the road, e.g. of lane markings; Recognition of the vehicle driving pattern in relation to the road
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/80 Camera processing pipelines; Components thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 45/10 Controlling the intensity of the light

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for operating a headlight (12) of a motor vehicle (10), which headlight (12) comprises a plurality of light emitting diodes, by receiving a request signal for a high-beam mode; determining a road class of a roadway on which the motor vehicle (10) is located; activating a first group of the plurality of light emitting diodes for providing a first high-beam distribution (20) with the headlight (12) in the event that a road class different from a highway (18) is determined; and activating a second group of the plurality of light emitting diodes for providing a second high-beam distribution (26) with the headlight (12) in the event that a highway (18) is determined as the road class.

Claims

1. A method for operating a headlight for a motor vehicle, said headlight comprising a plurality of light emitting diodes, the method, comprising:

receiving a request signal for a high-beam mode;

determining a road class of a roadway on which the motor vehicle is located;

activating a first group of the plurality of light emitting diodes for providing a first high-beam distribution with the headlight in the event that the road class is different from a highway; and

determining a structural separation between lanes of a highway and activating a second group of the plurality of light emitting diodes for providing a second high-beam distribution with the headlight by activating the second group of the plurality of light emitting diodes in response to determining the structural separation in the event that the highway is determined as the road class.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein

activating the first and the second group of the plurality of light emitting diodes such that the first and the second high-beam distribution extend along an angle range around a main beam direction of the headlight, wherein the angle range of the second high-beam distribution is smaller in comparison to the angle range of the first high-beam distribution.

3. The method according to either claim 1, wherein

determining the road class of the roadway on which the motor vehicle is located includes using the velocity of the motor vehicle.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein

determining the road class of the roadway on which the motor vehicle is located includes using the data of a navigation system.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein

determining a lane of the highway in which the motor vehicle is located in response the highway being the road class, and providing the second high-beam distribution by activating the second group of the plurality of light emitting diodes in response to the determining of the lane.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein

determining the lane in which the motor vehicle is located by means of road markings, using a camera.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein

activating the first or the second group of the plurality of light emitting diodes such that the light emitting diodes that are associated with an edge area of the headlight provide less illuminance as compared to the light emitting diodes that are associated with a middle area of the headlight.

8. A headlight for a motor vehicle, comprising:

a plurality of light emitting diodes;

a control device to receive a request signal for a high-beam mode;

a detection device to determine a road class of a roadway on which the motor vehicle is located,

the control device configured to activate a first group of the plurality of light emitting diodes to provide a first high-beam distribution in the event that the determined road class is different from a highway; and

the control device configured to determine a lane of a highway in which the motor vehicle is located and activate a second group of the plurality of light emitting diodes to provide a second high-beam distribution by activating the second group of the plurality of light emitting diodes in response to a determination of the lane in the event that the highway is determined to be the road class.

9. The headlight according to claim 8 wherein the control device is configured to determine the lane in which the motor vehicle is located by means of road markings, using a camera.

10. A motor vehicle, comprising:

a body of the motor vehicle, and

at least one headlight on the body, the headlight including;

a plurality of light emitting diodes;

a control device which in operation receives a request signal for a high-beam mode;

a detection device which in operation determines a road class of a roadway and outputs determination information;

in response to the determination information corresponding to a non-highway road class, the control device in operation activates a first group of the plurality of light emitting diodes to provide a first high-beam distribution; and

in response to the determination information corresponding to a highway road class, the control device in operation determines a lane of the highway in which the motor vehicle is located and activates a second group of the plurality of light emitting diodes to provide a second high-beam distribution by activating the second group of the plurality of light emitting diodes in response to the determination of the lane.

11. The motor vehicle of claim 10 wherein the control device is configured to determine a structural separation between lanes of the highway in response to the determination information corresponding to a highway road class, and wherein the control device is configured to activate the second group of the plurality of light emitting diodes to provide the second high-beam distribution by activating the second group of the plurality of light emitting diodes in response to a determination of the structural separation.

12. An automobile, comprising:

a headlight including a plurality of light emitting diodes;

a detection device which in operation determines a road class of a roadway and outputs determination information; and

a control device which in operation receives a signal corresponding to a request for a high-beam mode of the headlight,

in response to the signal corresponding to the request for a high-beam mode of the headlight and the determination information corresponding to a non-highway road class, the control device in operation activates first subsets of the plurality of light emitting diodes in a non-highway configuration, the first subsets include a first middle region of the plurality of light emitting diodes at a first illuminance, a first edge region of the plurality of light emitting diodes at a second illuminance that is less than the first illuminance, and a second edge region of the plurality of light emitting diodes at a third illuminance that is less than the first illuminance;

in response to the signal corresponding to the request for a high-beam mode of the headlight and the determination information corresponding to a highway road class, the control device in operation activates second subsets of the plurality of light emitting diodes in a highway configuration, the second subsets include a second middle region of the plurality of light emitting diodes at a fourth illuminance, a third edge region of the plurality of light emitting diodes at a fifth illuminance that is less than the fourth illuminance, a fourth edge region of the plurality of light emitting diodes at a sixth illuminance that is less than the fourth illuminance, a first intermediate region of the plurality of light emitting diodes between the fourth and fifth illuminances, and a second intermediate region of the plurality of light emitting diodes between the fourth and sixth illuminances.

13. The automobile of claim 12 wherein activating the first and second edge regions of the plurality of light emitting diodes includes activating each of the first and second edge regions of the plurality of light emitting diodes to have illuminances that vary linearly with distance from a center of the plurality of light emitting diodes.

14. The automobile of claim 13 wherein activating the first and second intermediate regions of the plurality of light emitting diodes includes activating each of the first and second intermediate regions of the plurality of light emitting diodes to have illuminances that vary linearly with distance from a center of the plurality of light emitting diodes.

15. The automobile of claim 14 wherein activating the first and second intermediate regions of the plurality of light emitting diodes includes activating each of the first and second intermediate regions of the plurality of light emitting diodes to have illuminances that vary from the fourth illuminance adjacent to the second middle region of the plurality of light emitting diodes and decrease linearly with distance from the center of the plurality of light emitting diodes to intermediate illuminances less than the fourth illuminance and greater than the fifth illuminance adjacent to the third edge region of the plurality of light emitting diodes and less than the fourth illuminance and greater than the sixth illuminance adjacent to the fourth edge region of the plurality of light emitting diodes, respectively.

16. The automobile of claim 12 wherein operating light emitting diodes at less than their maximum illuminance includes using pulse width modulation to dim the light emitting diodes.

17. The automobile of claim 12 wherein the detection device is configured to detect, in response to the determination information corresponding to a highway road class, a structural separation between lanes of the highway, and the control device is configured to activate the light emitting diodes based on the detection of the structural separation.

18. The automobile of claim 12 wherein the detection device is configured to determine, in response to the determination information corresponding to a highway road class, an identity of a lane of the highway the automobile is located within, and the control device is configured to activate the light emitting diodes based on the identity of the lane.

19. The automobile of claim 18 wherein the detection device is configured to determine the identity of the lane using a camera to identify road markings.