Controlling a headlight of a motor vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11034287-B2
Application number	US-201816481632-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 13, 2018
Priority date	Feb 15, 2017
Publication date	Jun 15, 2021
Grant date	Jun 15, 2021

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method for controlling a headlight of a motor vehicle when a full beam function is activated, in which method an object is sensed by means of an object sensor, an evaluation unit determines whether the object is a road user, a light output in an object region of the object is reduced only if the object is a road user, a width of the object region is determined, two parallel side lines are determined centrally with respect to the width, the sidelines are moved outwards up to a predefinable maximum distance of the sidelines from one another, in opposite directions to one another and transversely with respect to their extent, wherein the maximum spacing is greater than the width of the object region, the sidelines are moved back as far as the transverse extent, and the headlight reduces the light output in a region which is bounded laterally by the sidelines.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for controlling a headlight of a motor vehicle, the method comprising:
detecting, using a sensor of the motor vehicle, an object in a region of light output;
determining a type of the object in the region of the light output;
in response to a determination that the detected object is a road user, determining a width of an object region of the object;
determining two parallel sidelines centrally according to the width of the object region, wherein the two parallel sidelines serve to provide vertical light-dark boundaries to define a light-dark boundary with respect to the light output by the headlight;
moving the two parallel sidelines outwards, in opposite directions to one another and transversely with respect to their extent, up to a configurable maximum spacing of the two parallel sidelines from each other, wherein the configurable maximum spacing is greater than the width of the object region;
upon spacing between the two parallel sidelines reaching the configurable maximum spacing of the two parallel sidelines, moving the two parallel sidelines towards each other in opposite directions until the two parallel sidelines reach the width of the object region; and
controlling the headlight to emit light according to a light distribution corresponding to activation of a full beam of the headlight, and to reduce the light output in a region bounded laterally by the two parallel sidelines,
thereby reducing the light output in the object region.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the configurable maximum spacing of the two parallel sidelines is based on a roadway width of a roadway on which the object is located.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising moving the two parallel sidelines outwards or towards each other in a configuable time period.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the configuable time period is a function of at least one of a distance between the motor vehicle and the object, and a speed difference between the motor vehicle and the object.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein moving the two parallel sidelines outwards is faster than moving the two parallel sidelines towards each other.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising updating an alignment of the two parallel sidelines centered to the object.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising controlling the headlight to emit light exclusively outside the region bounded laterally by the two parallel sidelines.

8. A device for controlling a headlight of a motor vehicle, the device is configured to:
detect, using a sensor of the motor vehicle, an object in a region of light output;
determine a type of the object in the region of the light output;
in response to a determination that the detected object is a road user, determine a width of an object region of the object;
determine two parallel sidelines centrally according to the width of the object region, wherein the two parallel sidelines serve to provide vertical light-dark boundaries to define a light-dark boundary with respect to the light output by the headlight;
move the two parallel sidelines outwards, in opposite directions to one another and transversely with respect to their extent, up to a configurable maximum spacing of the two parallel sidelines from each other, wherein the configurable maximum spacing is greater than the width of the object region;
upon spacing between the two parallel sidelines reaching the configurable maximum spacing of the two parallel sidelines, move the two parallel sidelines towards each other in opposite directions until the two parallel sidelines reach the width of the object region; and
provide a control signal to control the headlight to emit light according to a light distribution corresponding to activation of a full beam of the headlight, and to reduce the light output in a region bounded laterally by the two parallel sidelines,
thereby reducing the light output in the object region.

9. The device of claim 8 , wherein the configurable maximum spacing of the two parallel sidelines is based on a roadway width of a roadway on which the object is located.

10. The device of claim 8 , further configured to move the two parallel sidelines outwards or towards each other in a configuable time period.

11. The device of claim 10 , wherein the configuable time period is a function of at least one of a distance between the motor vehicle and the object, and a speed difference between the motor vehicle and the object.

12. The device of claim 8 , wherein moving the two parallel sidelines outwards is faster than moving the two parallel sidelines towards each other.

13. The device of claim 8 , further configured to update an alignment of the two parallel sidelines centered to the object.

14. The device of claim 8 , further configured to provide another control signal to control the headlight to emit light exclusively outside the region bounded laterally by the two parallel sidelines.

15. A driver assistance system for a motor vehicle, comprising:
a device for controlling a headlight of a motor vehicle, the device configured to:
detect, using a sensor of the motor vehicle, an object in a region of light output;
determine a type of the object in the region of the light output;
in response to a determination that the detected object is a road user, determine a width of an object region of the object;
determine two parallel sidelines centrally according to the width of the object region, wherein the two parallel sidelines serve to provide vertical light-dark boundaries to define a light-dark boundary with respect to the light output by the headlight;
move the two parallel sidelines outwards, in opposite directions to one another and transversely with respect to their extent, up to a configurable maximum spacing of the two parallel sidelines from each other, wherein the configurable maximum spacing is greater than the width of the object region;
upon spacing between the two parallel sidelines reaching the configurable maximum spacing of the two parallel sidelines, move the two parallel sidelines towards each other in opposite directions until the two parallel sidelines reach the width of the object region; and
provide a control signal to control the headlight to emit light according to a light distribution corresponding to activation of a full beam of the headlight, and to reduce the light output in a region bounded laterally by the two parallel sidelines,
thereby reducing the light output in the object region.

16. A motor vehicle, comprising at least one of a device and a driver assistance system comprising the device,
wherein the device is configured to:
detect, using a sensor of the motor vehicle, an object in a region of light output;
determine a type of the object in the region of the light output;
in response to a determination that the detected object is a road user, determine a width of an object region of the object;
determine two parallel sidelines centrally according to the width of the object region, wherein the two parallel sidelines serve to provide vertical light-dark boundaries to define a light-dark boundary with respect to the light output by the headlight;
move the two parallel sidelines outwards, in opposite directions to one another and transversely with respect to their extent, up to a configurable maximum spacing of the two parallel sidelines from each other, wherein the configurable maximum spacing is greater than the width of the object region;
upon spacing between the two parallel sidelines reaching the configurable maximum spacing of the two parallel sideli

Assignees

• Audi Ag

Inventors

• Omerbegovic Said

Classifications

• B60Q2300/056

  Special anti-blinding beams, e.g. a standard beam is chopped or moved in order not to blind · CPC title

• B60Q1/143 Primary

  combined with another condition, e.g. using vehicle recognition from camera images or activation of wipers · CPC title

• B60Q2300/40

  Indexing codes relating to other road users or special conditions · CPC title

• B60Q2300/42

  oncoming vehicle · CPC title

• F21S41/692

  Shields, i.e. screens not creating an image meant to be projected · CPC title