METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE LIGHT DISTRIBUTION OF VEHICLE HEADLIGHTS AND VEHICLE

Abstract

A method for controlling the light distribution of vehicle headlights using vehicle-to-X communication, as well as a vehicle having an electronic circuit that executes such a method. The method can be used to implement a variable light distribution of vehicle headlights without cameras and digital maps.

Claims

1. A method for controlling the light distribution of vehicle headlights, comprising receiving data from a vehicle-to-X communication, calculating the light distribution based at least on this data, and adjusting the light distribution to a standard value in the case in which no data from vehicle-to-X communication or an insufficient amount of data from vehicle-to-X communication is received within a predetermined period of time.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the light distribution includes a light range of the vehicle headlights.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the light distribution includes a lighting direction of the vehicle headlights.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data at least partially comes from other vehicles.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the data coming from the other vehicles at least partially contains information about a respective route traveled.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising of calculating a course of the route based on information about the respective routes traveled by the other vehicles, wherein the calculated course of the route is used for calculating the light distribution.

7. The method according to claim 4, wherein the data that comes from other vehicles at least partially includes periodic signals indicating a respective current position of the other vehicle.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising the calculating the course of a route based on the periodic signals, wherein the calculated course of the route is used for calculating the light distribution.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the calculating of a course of the route is performed at least partially by lining up the positions of other vehicles.

10. The method according to claim 7, further comprising detecting oncoming or preceding vehicles using the periodic signals, wherein the positions and/or routes of the oncoming or preceding vehicles are used for calculating the light distribution.

11. (canceled)

12. The method according to claim 1, which is performed without using camera data and/or without using map data.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein calculating the light distribution is additionally based on camera data and/or map data.

14. The method according to claim 1, which is executed in an electronic circuit.

15. A vehicle, comprising: vehicle-to-X communication means, an electronic circuit, configured to perform the method according to claim 1, and at least one headlight whose light distribution is controlled by the electronic circuit.

16. The method according to claim 2, wherein the light distribution includes a lighting direction of the vehicle headlights.

17. The method according to claim 5, wherein the data that comes from other vehicles at least partially includes periodic signals indicating a respective current position of the other vehicle.

18. The method according to claim 6, wherein the data that comes from the other vehicles at least partially includes periodic signals indicating a respective current position of the other vehicle.

19. The method according to claim 8, further comprising detecting oncoming or preceding vehicles using the periodic signals, wherein the positions and/or routes of the oncoming or preceding vehicles are used for calculating the light distribution,

20. The method according to claim 9, further comprising detecting oncoming or preceding Vehicles using the periodic signals, wherein the position and/or routes of the oncoming or preceding vehicles are used for calculating the light distribution.

21. The method according to claim wherein the electronic circuit is a high beam assist circuit.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0035] Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to a person skilled in the art when reading the following description of embodiments with reference to the enclosed drawing. Wherein:

[0036] FIG. 1: shows a constellation in which the method according to the invention can be used advantageously for controlling a light range,

[0037] FIG. 2: shows a constellation in which the method according to the invention can be used advantageously for controlling a lighting direction.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0038] FIG. 1 shows a vehicle 10 that comprises an electronic circuit 12 for performing the method according to the invention. For this purpose, the electronic circuit 12 particularly comprises processor means and memory means, wherein program code is stored in the memory means which, if executed, causes the processing means to perform the method according to the invention. The vehicle 10 further includes vehicle-to-X communication means in the form of the communication module 14, which is configured to exchange data with other vehicles and infrastructure facilities. Vehicle-to-X communication as such is generally known, which is why a detailed description is not given here.

[0039] The vehicle 10 further comprises a first headlight 20 and a second headlight 24. The first headlight 20 emits a first beam of light 22, whereas the second headlight 24 emits a second beam of light 26. Both beams of light 22, 26 end at a common cut-off line 28.

[0040] Another preceding vehicle 10a is traveling ahead of the vehicle 10. The other vehicle 10a also comprises an electronic circuit 12a and a communication module 14a for vehicle-to-X communication. Furthermore, the other vehicle 10a also comprises another first headlight 20a and another second headlight 24a, however their control will not be described here. Accordingly, no beams of light are shown coming from these headlights 20a, 24a.

[0041] Both the communication module 14 and the other communication module 14a are equipped with a respective satellite navigation system to detect the respective positions of the vehicles 10, 10a. These positions are sent out in periodic signals, so that other vehicles know the position of the respective vehicles 10, 10a. Satellite navigation also provides a global time reference, which is used by the vehicles 10, 10a for time-stamping the signals to be sent out. In this way, other vehicles that use the same time reference will know at what time the respective vehicle 10, 10a is at what location. This facilitates in particular the calculation of the past route of a respective vehicle 10, 10a.

[0042] In the present case, particularly the other vehicle 10a continuously sends out periodic signals that contain the position of the other vehicle 10a at a respective time. Since the communication module 14 in the vehicle 10 includes a satellite navigation system, this vehicle's own position as well as the global time reference used by the other vehicle 10a are known. This makes it possible to calculate the distance between the two vehicles 10, 10a with high accuracy. The light range of the headlights 20, 24 is set based on this distance, such that the cutoff line 28 is immediately behind the other vehicle 10a. This allows for the best possible illumination of the road in front of the vehicle 10 without dazzling a driver of the other vehicle 10a.

[0043] FIG. 2 shows the two vehicles 10, 10a in a different constellation. The description of FIG. 1 is referred to for individual components.

[0044] In FIG. 2, the two vehicles 10, 10a move along a traffic lane 30. This can, for example, be a traffic lane of a highway. The traffic lane 30, as shown, is not straight but curved, and the vehicles 10, 10a follow that curve.

[0045] Using the periodic signals of the other vehicle 10a, vehicle 10 is able to calculate the course of the traffic lane 30 in advance. The electronic circuit 12 of the vehicle 10 is therefore able to control the headlights 20, 24 of the vehicle 10 so that their lighting direction adapts to the course of the traffic lane 30. In the present case, the two beams of light 22, 26 are shifted somewhat to the right to better capture the course of the traffic lane 30. This improves the illumination of the traffic lane 30 and therefore visibility, which helps to avoid accidents.

[0046] If over a specific period of time the amount of data available from the vehicle-to-X communication is insufficient for reliably detecting other vehicles or for calculating the traffic lane 30 in advance, the electronic circuit 30 sets the light distribution of the vehicle headlights 20, 24 to a standard of value that matches a classic static low beam light. This avoids dazzling other road users.

[0047] The claims included in this application do not represent a waiver of obtaining protection beyond their scope.

[0048] If it is found in the course of the proceedings that a feature or a group of features is not absolutely required, the applicant intends to formulate at least one independent claim that no longer includes this feature or group of features. This can for example be the subcombination of a claim existing on the date of filing or the subcombination of a claim existing on the date of filing that is limited by further features. Such claims or feature combinations to be reworded are deemed to be covered by the disclosure of this application.

[0049] It should also be noted that embodiments, features, and variants of the invention, which are described in the various embodiments or exemplary embodiments and/or shown in the figures, can be combined with each other in any conceivable form. One or several features can be interchanged as desired. Resulting feature combinations are deemed to be covered by the disclosure of this application.

[0050] Backward references in the independent claims should not be interpreted as a waiver of obtaining independent relevant protection for the features of the dependent claims that refer back. These features can also be combined with other features in any conceivable way.

[0051] Features that are only disclosed in the description, or features that are disclosed in conjunction with other features only in the description or in a claim, can in principle be of independent significance essential to the invention. They can therefore be individually included in claims for differentiation from the prior art.