High-volume, long-range headlamp aiming

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11022519-B2
Application number	US-201916664105-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 25, 2019
Priority date	Apr 27, 2016
Publication date	Jun 1, 2021
Grant date	Jun 1, 2021

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.

First claim

What is claimed:

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 an 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;
at least one fixed imager oriented to capture one or more images of the displaceable aiming surface;
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
an adjuster configured for performing the calculated aim correction in response to commands received from the at least one processor.

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 , wherein the displaceable aiming surface is disposed at least 25 feet from the single headlamp.

4. An imaging system, comprising:
an aim box carrying an imager oriented to capture at least one image of a headlamp of the vehicle and/or one or more features of the vehicle adjacent to the single headlamp, the aim box being configured to prevent light emitted by another headlamp of the vehicle from reaching the imager;
at least one fixed imager oriented to capture one or more images of a headlamp aiming surface disposed forward of the vehicle wherein the headlamp aiming surface is configured to selectively displace to allow passage of the vehicle;
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 headlamp and/or of the another headlamp; and
an adjuster configured for performing the calculated aim correction in response to commands received from the at least one processor.

5. The imaging system of claim 4 , wherein the aim box is adapted to translate between the headlamp and the another headlamp.

6. The imaging system of claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to calculate the aim correction of the headlamp and/or of the another headlamp by executing computer-readable instructions for:
determining an optical center of the headlamp and the another headlamp from the at least one image of the headlamp and/or headlamp-adjacent feature and at least one image of the another headlamp and/or the another headlamp-adjacent feature; and
determining a low beam cutoff height of the headlamp and the another headlamp from the at least one image of the headlamp and the at least one image of the another headlamp; and
calculating any required aim correction for the headlamp and/or the another headlamp from the determined headlamp optical center, the determined another headlamp optical center, the determined headlamp low beam cutoff height, and the determined another low beam headlamp cutoff height.

7. The imaging system of claim 4 , wherein the aiming surface is a selectively displaceable aiming surface.

8. The imaging system of claim 7 , wherein the selectively displaceable aiming surface is a divided surface comprising a pair of displaceable panels.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Ekladyous Albert
• Lahaie Diane Marie
• Mady Ghassan E
• Curwood Simon Howard
• Adams-Campos Kelley Maria
• Singh Hardyal
• Spencer Jeffrey Paul

Classifications

• G01J1/4257

  applied to monitoring the characteristics of a beam, e.g. laser beam, headlamp beam (monitoring arrangements for lasers in general H01S3/0014) · CPC title

• G01M11/064 Primary

  by using camera or other imaging system for the light analysis · CPC title

• G01M11/061 Primary

  Details of the mechanical construction of the light measuring system (G01M11/064 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01M11/065

  details about the image analysis · CPC title