Koito Manufacturing Company, Ltd.

Yusuke Kasaba

Masashi Yamazaki

Atsushi Toda

Teruaki Yamamoto

Takashi Hori

Yoshiaki Fushimi

Masayasu Ito

Kazuo Goto

Takeshi Masuda

Misako Kamiya

Masaaki Ishikawa

Minami Katagiri

Hiroki Inoue

Yukinori Saeki

A vehicle lamp controller, a vehicle lamp system, and a vehicle lamp control method are provided. The vehicle lamp system includes an acceleration sensor, a vehicle lamp, and the vehicle controller. The controller includes a receiver configured to receive an acceleration information detected by the acceleration sensor, a control unit configured to derive a vehicle longitudinal direction acceleration and a vehicle vertical direction acceleration from the acceleration information, and to generate a control signal for instructing an adjustment of an optical axis of the vehicle lamp, based on a variation in a ratio between a temporal change amount of the vehicle longitudinal direction acceleration and a temporal change amount of the vehicle vertical direction acceleration during at least one of an acceleration and a deceleration of a vehicle, and a transmitter configured to transmit the control signal to an optical axis adjusting portion of the vehicle lamp.

Vehicle lamp controller, vehicle lamp system, and vehicle lamp control method

A left front camera () is adapted to be mounted on a left front lamp (LF) of a vehicle to obtain external information of at least ahead of the vehicle. A right front LiDAR sensor (), a type of which is different from the camera (), is adapted to be mounted on a right front lamp (RF) of the vehicle to obtain external information of at least ahead of the vehicle.

Sensor system

A LiDAR sensor () is configured to sense information of an outside of a vehicle. An ultrasonic sensor () is configured to sense information of the outside of the vehicle in a different manner from the LiDAR sensor (). A first bracket () supports the LiDAR sensor () and the ultrasonic sensor (). A first sensor actuator () is configured to adjust a sensing reference position of the LiDAR sensor () relative to the first bracket (). A second sensor actuator () is configured to adjust a sensing reference position of the ultrasonic sensor () relative to first bracket (). A first bracket actuator () is configured to adjust at least one of a position and a posture of the first bracket () relative to the vehicle.

Sensor system, sensor module, and lamp device

A lamp housing () houses a light source (). A front sensor housing () houses a front LiDAR sensor (). A supporting unit () supports the lamp housing () and the front sensor housing (). The lamp housing () and the front sensor housing () are arranged in a direction corresponding to a left-right direction of a vehicle, when viewed from a direction corresponding to a front-rear direction of the vehicle. A maximum dimension (UD) of the lamp housing () in an up-down direction of the vehicle is smaller than a maximum dimension (UD) of the front sensor housing () in the same direction.

Lamp device

A light source () is configured to emit light for lighting a predetermined area. A LiDAR sensor () is configured to sense information of an outside of a vehicle. A first screw mechanism () is configured to adjust posture of the light source (). A second screw mechanism () is configured to adjust posture of the LiDAR sensor (). Adjustment by one of the first screw mechanism () and the second screw mechanism () is performed on the basis of adjustment that has been performed by the other one of the first screw mechanism () and the second screw mechanism ().

Lighting system and sensor system

A front module () is disposed in a front portion of a vehicle (). An upper module () is disposed on a ceiling surface () of the vehicle (). The front module () includes a front light source () and a front sensor (). The upper module () includes an upper light source () and an upper sensor ().

Lighting system

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.

Control device for vehicle lamp, and vehicle lamp system

An illumination device to be mounted on a vehicle, includes a light source; a sensor configured to acquire information outside the vehicle based on invisible light; and a cover including a first portion covering the light source and a second portion covering the sensor. The second portion has a lower visible light transmittance than the first portion.

Illumination device

A vehicle lamp control apparatus includes a receiver, a storage, a correction section, and an adjustment instruction section. The receiver receives output values of an acceleration sensor. The storage stores information indicating an ideal positional relationship between sensor-side axes and vehicle-side axes. The correction section plots the output values, obtained during running of a vehicle, on coordinates in which acceleration in a vehicle longitudinal direction is set to a first axis and acceleration in a vehicle lateral/vertical direction is set to a second axis, derives a straight line from plotted points, calculates displacements of the sensor-side and vehicle-side axes from the ideal positional relationship, using an inclination of the straight line, and corrects the information. The adjustment instruction section derives a tilt angle of the vehicle from current acceleration using the corrected information, and generates a control signal to instruct adjustment of an optical axis of a vehicle lamp.

Vehicle lamp control apparatus

A tilt sensor housing case includes a main body part including a housing space and an opening portion and a lid part configured to close the opening portion. The lid part has a first engaging portion extending along an outer surface of the main body part. The main body part has a second engaging portion on the outer surface corresponding to the first engaging portion. The lid part is mounted to the main body part by a snap-fit coupling using the elasticity of the lid part and locked to the main body part by the engagement of the first and second engaging portions. The main body part has a first protrusion and a second protrusion that are positioned to sandwich the first engaging portion between them, and each of the first and second protrusions protrudes at least up to the same height as the first engaging portion.

Tilt sensor housing case and vehicle lamp system

There is provided a vehicle lamp control apparatus including a receiver and a controller. The receive receives an output value of an inclination sensor and a signal output from at least one of a foot brake sensor, a parking brake sensor and a shift position sensor. A total angle which is an inclination angle of a vehicle with respect to a horizontal plane can be derived from the output value of the inclination sensor. The controller adjusts an optical axis angle of a vehicle lamp using the output value of the inclination sensor. The controller outputs an adjustment signal to adjust the optical axis angle of the vehicle lamp in response to change in the total amount when the vehicle is static, except for non-static load change caused by changeover in at least one of a foot brake, a parking brake and a shift position.

In a vehicle lamp control device, a control unit is configured to a) hold a road surface angle reference value and a vehicle posture angle reference value in a volatile manner, b) generate an optical axis adjusting signal using a vehicle posture angle in response to variation in a total angle during the stop of the vehicle, c) avoid generating or outputting the optical axis adjusting signal or output an optical axis holding signal, and hold a road surface angle as a new reference value, in response to variation in the total angle during travelling of the vehicle. The control unit, in response to receiving the turn-off signal of the switch, d-1) writes at least the road surface angle reference value in the storage unit or continues to execute the step (c) while delaying the step (d-1).

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Shizuoka, Japan

Yusuke Kasaba