An automated headlight system for vehicles replaces the high and low beam with a continuum of beam patterns, with further variable spatial distribution of intensities and color spectrum. The digital-headlight is comprised of a controller, sensors and multiple, individually-controllable light-sources modified by optical-control elements to form narrow-beams which are then combined to create the overall headlamp beam. Utilizing real-time sensor data regarding beings, objects and vehicles in the way-ahead, as well as optional information on the driver, vehicle and environment, the logical controller dynamically adapts the headlight system's illumination so as to provide vehicle operators with optimal visibility while preventing discomfort-glare from reaching the eyes oncoming traffic or pedestrians.

An optical axis control apparatus is provided with a relative-road-surface-angle calculating unit which calculates a relative horizontal plane angle being an inclination angle of a vehicle with respect to a horizontal plane by using an output value of an acceleration sensor provided on the vehicle and calculates a relative road surface angle being an inclination angle of the vehicle with respect to a road surface by integrating an amount of change of the relative horizontal plane angle while the vehicle is stationary, a relative-road-surface-angle correcting unit which obtains braking information indicating an operation state of a brake device provided on the vehicle and corrects the relative road surface angle for a change in the braking information, and an optical axis control unit which controls an optical axis of headlights provided on the vehicle using the relative road surface angle corrected by the relative-road-surface-angle correcting unit.

A lever switch includes a lever main body and a rotary operation element rotatably provided at a tip end portion of the lever main body. The rotary operation element is provided with a light ON switch position at which an instruction to cause head lights and small lights to be on at all times is issued, an automatic light switch position at which an instruction to set an automatic light mode, in which a turned-on state of the head lights and the small lights is controlled based on the intensity of illumination in the vicinity of the vehicle, is issued, and a light OFF switch position at which an instruction to turn the head lights off is issued, the light ON switch position, the automatic light switch position, and the light OFF switch position being arranged in an order along a rotation direction.

An optical axis control apparatus includes an optical axis controlling unit for calculating a pitch angle using output values from an acceleration sensor provided in a vehicle and controlling, using the pitch angle, optical axis angles of headlights provided in the vehicle, during stop of the vehicle; and a rolling motion determination unit for determining, when the vehicle has started traveling, whether there has been a rolling motion during the stop of the vehicle. When the pitch angle has been changed during the stop of the vehicle due to loading or unloading of baggage or a change of passengers, etc., and the rolling motion determination unit determines that the rolling motion exists, the optical axis controlling unit corrects, when the vehicle has started traveling and the rolling motion has been terminated, the changed pitch angle, i.e., the amount of change in pitch angle, using the amounts of correction set for each roll angle, and controls the optical axis angles using the corrected pitch angle, the each roll angle being obtained during stop of the vehicle.

A vehicle-lamp control device includes a control unit that adjusts an optical axis with respect to a change in a total angle that includes a road surface angle and a vehicle attitude angle while the vehicle is at rest, and maintains the optical axis with respect to a change in the total angle while the vehicle is traveling. The control unit fixes the optical axis angle when a fault state of the control device is detected. Upon the control device having recovered from a fault state, the control unit generates an adjustment signal either upon estimating a current vehicle attitude angle on the basis of an output value from the tilt sensor obtained while the vehicle is traveling, or upon receiving a signal indicating a current vehicle attitude angle from an external device.

A lever switch includes a lever main body and a rotary operation element rotatably provided at a tip end portion of the lever main body. The rotary operation element is provided with a light ON switch position at which an instruction to cause head lights and small lights to be on at all times is issued, an automatic light switch position at which an instruction to set an automatic light mode, in which a turned-on state of the head lights and the small lights is controlled based on the intensity of illumination in the vicinity of the vehicle, is issued, and a light OFF switch position at which an instruction to turn the head lights off is issued, the light ON switch position, the automatic light switch position, and the light OFF switch position being arranged in an order along a rotation direction.

To provide a technique capable of accurately obtaining the attitude of a vehicle in the pitch direction. A control device for a vehicular lamp which controls the optical axis of a vehicular lamp in accordance with an attitude change in pitch direction of the vehicle is disclosed. The device includes an angle calculation part which obtains a first and a second acceleration by eliminating the gravitational acceleration component from each acceleration in the vertical and the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, calculates a vehicle traveling direction acceleration based on the accelerations, and obtains a vehicle attitude angle based on the correlation between the vehicle traveling direction acceleration and the first and the second accelerations. The angle calculation part obtains the attitude angle of the vehicle when it determines that the vehicle is accelerating or decelerating based on the determination on the basis of each acceleration difference at the predetermined time.

To obtain correction information for automatic leveling control without a special environment. A device controlling the vehicular lamp axis in accordance with attitude change in the pitch direction of a vehicle including: a detection part detecting a first and a second acceleration; a correction part obtaining variation of the vehicle angle at a stop based on the two accelerations of a first and a second timing, obtaining vehicle angle while traveling based on the two accelerations while traveling, and obtaining and retaining a correction angle based on the difference between the two; an angle calculation part obtaining the vehicle angle while traveling based on the two accelerations, and obtaining an actual vehicle angle by subtracting the correction angle from the vehicle angle while traveling; and an optical axis control part generating a control signal based on the actual vehicle angle, and providing the control signal to the vehicular lamp.

A vehicle lighting-based roadway obstacle notification for a motor vehicle has a vehicle headlamp system with a controllable light distribution. A camera is aligned parallel to a forward driving direction records a part of the roadway surface lying in front of the motor vehicle which includes a multiplicity of roadway detection paths. Camera data are individually evaluated in relation to ranges and at least one quantity from among a magnitude of a vertical dimension h.sub.i of the roadway, a magnitude of a gradient grad.sub.x;i of the roadway, and an instantaneous speed v.sub.mom of the motor vehicle, with respect to the roadway detection paths. When at least one predetermined condition in respect of at least one of these quantities is complied with, the vehicle headlamp system is controlled in order to illuminate a part of the width of the roadway in which a roadway anomaly has been detected.

Provided herein is a headlamp assembly comprising a housing that encloses: a sensor that acquires data associated with a surrounding environment; a light source that illuminates a field of view comprising a portion of the surrounding environment; and one or more processors that analyze the acquired data and determine a direction, field of view, power, or an intensity of the illumination of the portion based on the analyzed data.