JP7523931B2 - Vehicle lighting control device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle lighting control device.

Headlights mounted in front of a vehicle are known to automatically control the light distribution area into which light is irradiated depending on the presence or absence of a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle (vehicle ahead). For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a lamp that divides the light distribution area of the headlight into multiple areas in advance and does not irradiate the area where a vehicle ahead is detected based on an image captured by a camera.

JP 2010-280302 A

However, in the technology described in Patent Document 1, the light distribution area of the headlights is divided vertically into strips, and each area is controlled to be illuminated or non-illuminated. As a result, in the areas controlled to be non-illuminated, not only the vehicle ahead but also the areas above and below the vehicle ahead are non-illuminated, reducing visibility. In particular, the area below the vehicle ahead includes the road surface in front of the vehicle ahead (towards the vehicle itself), and there is a risk that the visibility of the road surface will be reduced, reducing safety.

To solve this problem, for example, it is possible to identify the outline of the vehicle ahead and make the area corresponding to that outline non-illuminated. However, in order to accurately detect the outline of the vehicle ahead, high-performance on-board cameras and detection sensors are required. This would result in increased costs and is therefore not realistic.

The present invention was conceived in light of this situation, and its purpose is to provide a vehicle lighting control device that can reduce costs while improving safety.

The present invention relates to a vehicle lighting control device.
A vehicle lamp mounted on a front of a vehicle;
an imaging means for imaging an illumination range in which light can be illuminated by the vehicle lamp;
A specifying means for specifying a non-illuminated area that is not to be irradiated with light even if it is within the irradiable area based on the image captured by the imaging means;
a control unit that controls the vehicle lamp so as not to irradiate light onto the non-illuminated area identified by the identification unit,
The identification means is
A lower edge line of the non-illuminated area is identified according to a portion of the image captured by the imaging means that has high brightness;
a line that is oriented upward at an angle corresponding to the distance to the point where the luminance is high from the direction toward the identified lower edge line is identified as the upper edge line of the non-illuminated area , and when it is determined that the non-illuminated area is a slope whose angle exceeds a threshold, a line that is oriented upward at an angle greater than the angle corresponding to the distance to the point where the luminance is high is identified as the upper edge line;
The control means controls the vehicle lamp so that light is not emitted to a non-illuminated area from above the lower edge line to below the upper edge line, while light is emitted to an area below the lower edge line and an area above the upper edge line .

In one embodiment of the vehicle lamp control device of the present invention, the identifying means identifies the lower edge line of the non-illuminated area according to the location of the highest brightness in the image captured by the imaging means.

In another embodiment of the vehicle lamp control device according to the present invention, a distance calculation unit is provided to calculate a distance to a position corresponding to the portion of high luminance based on the image captured by the imaging unit,
The identification means identifies a lower edge line of the non-irradiated area according to areas of high brightness in the image captured by the imaging means, and identifies an upper edge line of the non-irradiated area according to the distance calculated by the distance calculation means.

In another embodiment of the vehicle lamp control device of the present invention, the identification means identifies the angle of the non-illuminated range according to the distance calculated by the distance calculation means, and identifies a line that is upward by the angle based on the direction from the vehicle lamp to the bottom edge line of the non-illuminated range as the top edge line of the non-illuminated range.

The vehicle lighting control device of the present invention does not require a high-performance camera or detection sensor, so costs can be kept down, while also reducing the exposure of the driver of the vehicle ahead to glare light. By illuminating the road surface in front of the vehicle ahead, the visibility of the road surface is improved, thereby increasing safety.

1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of a vehicle lighting control device; 4 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation of the vehicle lighting control device. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example of a non-irradiated range. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a headlight.

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of a vehicle lamp control device 1 of the present invention. The vehicle lamp control device 1 according to the present invention includes a vehicle lamp, an imaging means, and a control unit. The vehicle lamp is a lamp mounted on the front of a vehicle, for example, a headlight 11. The headlight 11, which will be described later with reference to FIG. 4, has a structure that can be controlled to irradiate light to a range set as an irradiation range within an irradiation possible range, while not irradiating light to a range set as a non-irradiation range. The imaging means is mounted at a position (for example, near the back surface of a rearview mirror/room mirror) where the irradiation possible range that can be irradiated with light by the headlight 11 is imaged, and is, for example, an in-vehicle camera 12 consisting of a stereo camera. The control unit is, for example, an ECU 13 (Electronic Control Unit) that controls the headlight 11 and the in-vehicle camera 12. The ECU 13 is composed of a microcomputer including a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and an I/O.

The ECU 13 transmits a control signal to the vehicle-mounted camera 12 to capture an image at predetermined intervals (e.g., 100 msec). As a result, the vehicle-mounted camera 12 captures an image of the irradiatable range at predetermined intervals. The image data captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 12 is transmitted to the ECU 13.

Based on the image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 12, the ECU 13 identifies a non-illuminated area where light is not irradiated even if it is within the irradiable range, and controls the headlights 11 so that light is not irradiated to the non-illuminated area. The ECU 13 in the present invention analyzes the captured image and identifies the lower edge line (the lower end line of the non-illuminated area) of the non-illuminated area according to the part of the image with high brightness, and controls so that light is not irradiated to the non-illuminated area above the lower edge line, while irradiating light to the area below the lower edge line. In addition, for the left and right directions of the non-illuminated area, the ECU 13, for example, identifies the left edge line and the right edge line of the non-illuminated area according to the part of high brightness used to identify the lower edge line, and controls so that light is not irradiated to the area from the left edge line to the right edge line, while irradiating light to the area to the left of the left edge line and the area to the right of the right edge line.

Figure 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation (processing) of the vehicle lighting control device 1 of the present invention. The ECU 13 repeatedly executes the process shown in Figure 2 at predetermined time intervals (e.g., 100 msec) when, for example, a setting operation for turning on the headlights is being performed or when the headlights are to be turned on automatically. The present invention will be described in detail with reference to Figure 2, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

In step S1, processing is performed to capture an image of the illumination range using the vehicle-mounted camera 12. Specifically, a control signal for capturing an image is output to the vehicle-mounted camera 12. Data on the image captured by the vehicle-mounted camera 12 is transmitted to the ECU 13.

In step S2, preprocessing is performed to analyze the received image. Next, in step S3, processing is performed to extract areas that may be vehicle headlights or taillights (hereinafter simply referred to as "lamps"). In this embodiment, areas with high brightness are extracted from the captured image. The method of extracting points with high brightness may be to extract areas with brightness higher than a predetermined value, or to extract areas that show a relatively higher brightness than the surrounding areas in the image. The predetermined value is, for example, a value that is arbitrarily set according to the brightness standard for vehicle lamps.

The high brightness areas in the image include areas that correspond to vehicle-mounted lamps, but also areas that correspond to road signs, reflectors, street lights, etc. For this reason, in step S4, processing is performed to identify whether the high brightness areas extracted in step S3 correspond to vehicle lamps (identification to avoid erroneous detection).

Examples of identification methods include (1) identification by color, (2) identification by whether or not the vehicle is moving, and (3) identification by whether or not the vehicle is in a pair. (1) Identification by color is a method of eliminating all areas other than white and red from the extracted high-luminance areas, since the standard stipulates that headlights are white and taillights are red. This eliminates blue and green road signs. (2) Identification by whether or not the vehicle is moving is a method of identifying moving areas from the extracted high-luminance areas and eliminating non-moving areas (stationary areas). For example, since imaging is performed every 100 msec, the images before and after the vehicle are compared to determine whether the extracted area is moving or not, taking into account the vehicle's speed and travel distance. (3) Identification by whether or not the vehicle is in a pair is a method of eliminating all areas from the extracted high-luminance areas that are not in a pair within a specified range (specified distance), since the vehicle's lamps are paired on the left and right. In addition, it is desirable to increase the accuracy of identifying whether or not a location corresponds to a vehicle lamp by combining (1) to (3) or other methods and performing multi-stage identification.

As a result, in step S4, locations corresponding to road signs, reflectors, street lights, etc. can be eliminated with high accuracy, and locations that have not been eliminated are identified (considered) as locations corresponding to vehicle lamps. In this way, to perform the processing of steps S3 and S4, it is sufficient that the vehicle-mounted camera 12 is equipped with a camera that can capture images that can identify, for example, brightness, color, etc., and therefore there is no need for a high-performance camera or detection sensor.

In step S5, the presence or absence of a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle is determined based on the result of step S4. Specifically, when a location corresponding to the vehicle's lamp is identified in step S4, it is determined that there is a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle. If it is not determined in step S5 that there is a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle, there is no need to set a non-illumination range, so the process proceeds to step S7, and the headlights 11 are controlled to illuminate the entire illumination range.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S5 that there is a preceding vehicle or an oncoming vehicle, a non-illuminated range is set in step S6, and then the process proceeds to step S7, where the headlights 11 are controlled so that light is not irradiated onto the set non-illuminated range within the irradiable range, and light is irradiated onto the irradiable range other than the non-illuminated range.

In step S6, the non-illuminated area is set based on the areas of high brightness that correspond to the vehicle lamps identified in step S4. In step S6, for example, the lower edge line of the non-illuminated area is identified based on the area that is located at the bottommost position in the vertical direction among the areas that correspond to the vehicle lamps. Also, in step S6, for example, the left edge line of the non-illuminated area is identified based on the area that is located at the leftmost position in the horizontal direction, and the right edge line of the non-illuminated area is identified based on the area that is located at the rightmost position. Specific examples are described below.

Figure 3(a) shows an example in which a preceding vehicle (vehicle on the left) and an oncoming vehicle (vehicle on the right) are traveling ahead of the vehicle, and in step S4, four points (locations) shown inside the left and right tail lamp covers of the preceding vehicle and four points (locations) shown inside the headlight cover of the oncoming vehicle are identified as locations corresponding to lamps. Note that the number of locations corresponding to lamps changes from time to time depending on the structure of the lamp, the number of vehicles ahead, etc.

In the case shown in FIG. 3(a), in step S6, it is determined that, of the locations corresponding to the eight lamps, the lower location a inside the headlight cover on the right side facing the oncoming vehicle is the location located at the lowest position, and the lower edge line A of the non-illuminated range is identified according to the location a, and the area above the lower edge line A is designated as the non-illuminated range from which light is not irradiated, and the area below the lower edge line A is designated as the illuminated range from which light is irradiated.

Lamps on a vehicle are generally positioned below where the windshield and rear window are located. For this reason, the lower edge line of the non-illuminated area is identified horizontally according to the area of high brightness that corresponds to the lamp, and light is not irradiated to the non-illuminated area above the lower edge line, while light is controlled to be irradiated to the area below the lower edge line. This makes it possible to illuminate the road surface in front of the vehicle ahead (the vehicle's side) while preventing light from being irradiated to the driver of the vehicle ahead.

In step S6, the lower edge line of the non-illuminated area is identified according to the location (which is also the location with high brightness) corresponding to the lamp identified in step 4, and the left edge line and right edge line of the non-illuminated area are identified. As shown in FIG. 3(a), of the eight lamp locations of the vehicle ahead, the lower location b in the tail lamp cover on the left side of the preceding vehicle is determined to be the location located at the leftmost position, the left edge line B of the non-illuminated area is identified according to the location b, the lower location a in the headlight cover on the right side facing the oncoming vehicle is determined to be the location located at the rightmost position, and the right edge line C of the non-illuminated area is identified according to the location a, and the area between the left edge line B and the right edge line C is set as the non-illuminated area so that light is not irradiated, and the left of the left edge line B and the right of the right edge line C are irradiated with light as the irradiated area. As a result, the area X1 indicated by the diagonal lines becomes the non-irradiated area and light is not irradiated, and light is irradiated to the area (including the road surface in front of the vehicle ahead) where no vehicle ahead exists other than the area X1. As a result, costs can be kept down because no high-performance cameras or detection sensors are required, while glare light directed at the driver of the vehicle ahead can be reduced, and by illuminating the road surface in front of the vehicle ahead, visibility of the road surface can be improved, thereby increasing safety.

In addition, in this embodiment, since the bottom edge line of the non-illuminated area is specified based on the areas with high brightness, it is possible to set the outer edge of the non-illuminated area, such as the bottom edge line, even within the area of the lamp cover, as shown in FIG. 3(a). This makes it possible to set the non-illuminated area and illuminated area more precisely and accurately than in a case where the bottom edge line is set based on the lamp cover.

(Embodiment 2)
In step S6 in FIG. 2 in the above embodiment, an example is shown in which the lower edge line of the non-illuminated area is determined based on the lowest part of the parts corresponding to the lamps, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the lower edge line of the non-illuminated area may be determined based on the part of the parts corresponding to the lamps that has the highest brightness. The part of the parts corresponding to the lamps of the vehicle that has the highest brightness can be regarded as, for example, the part corresponding to the lamp of the vehicle ahead that is closest to the vehicle itself. This also makes it possible to suppress the irradiation of glare light to the driver of the vehicle ahead while suppressing costs because no high-performance camera or detection sensor is required, and by illuminating the road surface in front of the vehicle ahead, the visibility of the road surface is improved, thereby increasing safety.

In addition, in step S6 of FIG. 2, an example of identifying the lower edge line of the non-illuminated range has been described, but this is not limiting, and the upper edge line of the non-illuminated range may also be identified, and the area from the lower edge line to the upper edge line may be non-illuminated, and the area below the lower edge line and above the upper edge line may be illuminated. In this case, the upper edge line may be identified according to the distance to the position corresponding to the lamp used to identify the lower edge line (in FIG. 3(a), the point a with high brightness (or the highest brightness)), that is, the distance to the vehicle ahead. The means for calculating the distance from the headlight 11 to the vehicle ahead is not particularly limited, and may be calculated based on a captured image or may be calculated by irradiation with laser light or the like.

The non-illuminated range is set to suppress illumination of glare light to the driver of the vehicle ahead. For this reason, the upper edge line may be a line that specifies a non-illuminated range that may include at least the position of the driver of the vehicle ahead (windshield or rear window) depending on the distance to the vehicle ahead. For example, the upper edge line may be a line that is angled upwards based on the direction (light illumination direction) from the headlight 11 to the position corresponding to the lower edge line specified in step S6.

The apparent size of the vehicle ahead in the captured image becomes larger the closer it is to the vehicle itself and becomes smaller the farther it is from the vehicle itself. Therefore, the upper and lower ranges that should be non-illuminated become larger the closer it is to the vehicle itself and become smaller the farther it is from the vehicle itself. As a result, the angle corresponding to the distance to the vehicle ahead becomes larger as the distance becomes shorter and smaller as the distance becomes longer. For example, when the distance to the vehicle ahead is 100 m, an angle of 4 degrees is specified, and when the distance to the vehicle ahead is 200 m, an angle of 2 degrees is specified. As long as the angle is specified according to the distance to the vehicle ahead, it may be calculated from the distance according to a predetermined formula each time, or it may be read by referring to a table that specifies the angle according to the distance.

3(b) shows an example in which the upper edge line D of the non-illuminated area is further specified in the same situation as in FIG. 3(a). As in FIG. 3(a), the lower edge line A, the left edge line B, and the right edge line C are specified, and the direction (light irradiation direction) toward the position corresponding to the lower edge line A is used as a reference, and a line that is upwardly oriented by an angle according to the calculated distance to the forward vehicle (an oncoming vehicle in FIG. 3(b)) is specified as the upper edge line, and light from the headlight 11 is controlled to be irradiated above the upper edge line. In other words, the non-illuminated area is the area between the lower edge line A and the upper edge line D and between the left edge line B and the right edge line C, and light is irradiated to the area below the lower edge line A, above the upper edge line D, to the left of the left edge line B, and to the right of the right edge line C. As a result, the area X2 indicated by the diagonal lines becomes the non-illuminated area and light is not irradiated, and light can be irradiated to areas other than the area X2 where no forward vehicle exists (including the road surface in front of the forward vehicle and above the forward vehicle). As a result, the height of the non-illuminated area can be set to an appropriate height according to the distance to the vehicle ahead, and the visibility of objects such as road signs that may be located above the vehicle ahead can be improved. Note that, although an example has been described in which the upper edge line is set to a line that is angled upwards based on the lower edge line at an angle according to the distance to the vehicle ahead, this is not limiting, and the height of the non-illuminated area can also be set to a line that is height according to the distance to the vehicle ahead based on the lower edge line.

(Embodiment 3)
2 in the above-mentioned first and second embodiments, an example in which the non-illuminated area is set without distinguishing between a preceding vehicle and an oncoming vehicle has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the non-illuminated area for the preceding vehicle and the non-illuminated area for the oncoming vehicle may be set separately. For example, in the process corresponding to step S6, the lower edge line of the non-illuminated area may be specified based on the lowest or brightest part among the parts corresponding to the red lamp of the preceding vehicle, and the lower edge line of the non-illuminated area may be specified based on the lowest or brightest part among the parts corresponding to the white lamp of the oncoming vehicle.

In addition, non-illuminated areas for leading vehicles and non-illuminated areas for oncoming vehicles may also be set separately in the left-right direction. For the non-illuminated area for leading vehicles, the left edge line of the non-illuminated area is identified based on the leftmost point among the points corresponding to the red lamp of the leading vehicle, and the right edge line of the non-illuminated area is identified based on the rightmost point. For the non-illuminated area for oncoming vehicles, the left edge line of the non-illuminated area is identified based on the leftmost point among the points corresponding to the white lamp of the oncoming vehicle, and the right edge line of the non-illuminated area is identified based on the rightmost point.

The upper edge line of the non-illuminated area can be determined based on the distance to the position corresponding to the location used to determine the lower edge line, i.e., the distance to the vehicle ahead, but the upper edge lines of the non-illuminated area for the preceding vehicle and the non-illuminated area for the oncoming vehicle may be determined separately. In other words, for the preceding vehicle, the lower edge line determined based on the red area representing the preceding vehicle is used as a reference, and a line that is angled upwards according to the distance to the preceding vehicle is determined as the upper edge line for the preceding vehicle. For the oncoming vehicle, the lower edge line determined based on the white area representing the oncoming vehicle is used as a reference, and a line that is angled upwards according to the distance to the oncoming vehicle is determined as the upper edge line for the oncoming vehicle. A specific explanation will be given below using FIG. 3(c).

Figure 3(c) shows a situation where one preceding vehicle and two oncoming vehicles are traveling ahead of the vehicle. The oncoming vehicles are referred to as the first and second vehicles from the front in Figure 3(c). In step S4 of Figure 2, it is assumed that one pair of taillights of the preceding vehicle (two on each side, four lamp locations in total) and two pairs of headlights of the oncoming vehicles (two on each side, four lamp locations in total, eight lamp locations in total for the two vehicles) have been identified.

In this case, in step S6 in FIG. 2, the lower edge line E is determined based on the lowest or brightest point a of the lamp (white) in the headlight of the oncoming vehicle, the left edge line I is determined based on the leftmost point, and the right edge line J is determined based on the rightmost point. The upper edge line F is determined at an angle according to the distance to the first oncoming vehicle based on the lower edge line E. As a result, the area X3 indicated by the diagonal lines becomes a non-illuminated area for oncoming vehicles and light is not irradiated. Note that the method of determining the lower edge line and the upper edge line is not limited to this, depending on the positional relationship between the vehicle and the oncoming vehicle when driving on a slope. For example, if the oncoming vehicle is driving on a slope just before the vehicle approaches the slope, the second oncoming vehicle (rear) following the first oncoming vehicle (front) will be located higher (higher) than the first oncoming vehicle compared to the position shown in FIG. 3(c). On the other hand, when the upper edge line is determined based on the distance to the first oncoming vehicle (nearby) using the lower edge line corresponding to the first oncoming vehicle as a reference, depending on the height position of the second oncoming vehicle, there is a possibility that the line including the range of the windshield of the oncoming vehicle may become the upper edge line. For this reason, for example, in step S06, it is determined whether the first oncoming vehicle is descending a relatively steep slope based on the fact that it is located higher than the standard position (for example, the range when traveling on flat ground or on a gentle slope), and when it is determined that the vehicle is descending a relatively steep slope, the angle corresponding to the distance may be determined to be larger than the normal angle (when the slope is not steep, specifically when it is not determined that the vehicle is descending a relatively steep slope) to determine the position of the upper edge line higher, or it may be determined by another method.

In step S6 of FIG. 2, the lower edge line K is identified based on the lowest or brightest point b of the lamp (red) in the tail lamp of the preceding vehicle, the left edge line G is identified based on the leftmost point, and the right edge line H is identified based on the rightmost point, and the upper edge line L is identified based on the angle according to the distance to the preceding vehicle with respect to the lower edge line K. As a result, the area X4 indicated by the diagonal lines becomes a non-illuminated range for the preceding vehicle and light is not irradiated. As a result, the non-illuminated range can be set to an appropriate range for each of the preceding vehicle and the oncoming vehicle. In addition, light is irradiated not only to the road surface in front of the vehicle ahead, but also between the preceding vehicle and the oncoming vehicle (between the right edge line H and the left edge line I), improving visibility and improving safety. Depending on the relative positions of the vehicle and the preceding vehicle when traveling up a slope, the method of identifying the lower edge line and the upper edge line is not limited to this, as is the case with the relative positions of the vehicle and the oncoming vehicle when traveling up a slope. For example, in step S06, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is ascending a relatively steep slope based on whether the nearest (closest) preceding vehicle is located higher than a standard position (for example, the range when traveling on flat ground or on a gentle slope). If it is determined that the vehicle is ascending a relatively steep slope, the angle according to the distance may be determined to be greater than normal (when the slope is not steep, specifically when it is not determined that the vehicle is ascending a relatively steep slope), and the position of the upper edge line may be determined to be higher, or it may be determined by another method.

(Regarding headlights)
The headlight 11 controlled in step S7 of FIG. 2 in the above-mentioned embodiments 1 to 3 may have a structure that can be controlled so that light is not irradiated to the non-irradiated range set in step S6 of FIG. 2 even if it is within the irradiable range, and light is irradiated to the irradiable range other than the non-irradiated range, and is not limited to a specific type. The headlight 11 may be, for example, a multi-resolution ADB (Adaptive Driving Beam) using an LED array chip (an LED package in which a large number of LED chips are arranged) as exemplified in FIG. 4(a), or a multi-resolution ADB using a DMD (Digital Micromirror Device). In addition, the headlight 11 may be an ADB in which the upper and lower light distribution is divided by dividing the reflector into upper and lower parts as exemplified in FIG. 4(b). Note that the greater the number of divisions, the more finely the non-irradiated range and the irradiated range can be set.

(Other Modifications)
While one embodiment of the present invention has been described above with reference to the drawings, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. Other modified examples will be described below.

The identification of the location corresponding to the vehicle lamp in the above embodiment is not limited to that shown in step S4 in FIG. 2. Considering that recent headlights and taillights are formed from multiple light sources such as LEDs, step S4 may further identify whether or not there are a predetermined number of locations (e.g., 5 locations) of high brightness locations extracted in step S3 within a predetermined range (e.g., a range of about the surface area of the headlight on the image), and if there are no such locations, the location may be excluded as not being a lamp.

In the above embodiment, the lower edge line is exemplified as a line passing through a predetermined location (e.g., the lowest location, the location with the highest brightness, etc.) among the locations corresponding to the vehicle lamps identified in step S4 of FIG. 2. However, the lower edge line is not limited to this, and may be a line passing through a position adjusted (set a margin) above or below the predetermined location by a predetermined amount (e.g., 10 cm, an angle corresponding to 10 cm, etc.). In addition, the predetermined amount may be different depending on the distance to the forward vehicle, and may be set to be smaller, for example, as the distance becomes longer. Similarly, for the locations corresponding to the vehicle lamps identified in step S4 of FIG. 2 for specifying the left edge line and the right edge line, the left edge line and the right edge line may be a line passing through a location adjusted (set a margin) to the left or right of the location by a predetermined amount (e.g., 10 cm, an angle corresponding to 10 cm, etc.).

It should be noted that the embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative in all respects and should not be considered limiting. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims rather than the above description, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 ... vehicle lighting device control device 11 ... headlight 12 ... vehicle-mounted camera 13 ... ECU

Claims (2)

A vehicle lamp mounted on a front of a vehicle;
an imaging means for imaging an illumination range in which light can be illuminated by the vehicle lamp;
A specifying means for specifying a non-illuminated area that is not to be irradiated with light even if it is within the irradiable area based on the image captured by the imaging means;
a control unit that controls the vehicle lamp so as not to irradiate light onto the non-illuminated area identified by the identification unit,
The identification means is
A lower edge line of the non-illuminated area is identified according to a portion of the image captured by the imaging means that has high brightness;
a line that is oriented upward at an angle corresponding to the distance to the point where the luminance is high from the direction toward the identified lower edge line is identified as the upper edge line of the non-illuminated area , and when it is determined that the non-illuminated area is a slope whose inclination angle exceeds a threshold, a line that is oriented upward at an angle greater than the angle corresponding to the distance to the point where the luminance is high is identified as the upper edge line;
The control means controls the vehicle lighting device so that light is not irradiated onto a non-illuminated area from above the lower edge line to below the upper edge line, while light is irradiated onto the area below the lower edge line and the area above the upper edge line. The vehicle lamp control device according to claim 1 , wherein the specifying unit specifies a lower edge line of the non-illuminated area according to a location with the highest luminance in the image captured by the imaging unit.

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