This relates generally to systems such as vehicles, and, more particularly, vehicles that have lights.
Automobiles and other vehicles have lights such as headlights. To accommodate different driving conditions, headlights are sometimes provided with low beam and high beam settings.
A vehicle may have lights such as headlights. The lights may be multiband lights that emit both visible and infrared light. During vehicle operation, infrared light from the lights may be used to illuminate objects that are monitored using infrared image sensors or other infrared sensors. For example, an autonomous driving system in the vehicle may use infrared sensor information in performing autonomous driving operations. Visible light from the lights is used to illuminate objects for viewing by vehicle occupants and to support the operation of visible light sensors.
Vehicle lights may be adjustable. For example, headlights may be placed in a high-beam mode in which visible light is emitted in a high-beam pattern and may be placed in a low-beam mode in which visible light is emitted in a low-beam pattern.
An adjustable light may have a light source that contains an infrared light-emitting device such as an infrared light-emitting diode and a visible light-emitting device such as a visible light-emitting diode. An optical combiner may be used to mix infrared light from the infrared light-emitting device with visible light from the visible light-emitting device. This mixed infrared and visible light may be reflected towards a lens in the adjustable light using a reflector.
To adjust the pattern of visible light emitted from the light, the light may have an adjustable light-blocking device. The adjustable light-blocking device may be located between the reflector and the lens. The light-blocking device may be used to adjust which visible light rays pass from the reflector to the lens and thereby adjust the pattern of emitted visible light. At the same time, the adjustable light-blocking device may allow infrared light to pass unimpeded regardless of which visible light emission pattern has been selected. In this way, satisfactory infrared illumination may be provided for supporting the operation of sensors such as infrared image sensors.
A system such as a vehicle or other system may have components that emit light such as headlights and other lights. Headlights may be used to provide visible light illumination of a roadway. This allows vehicle occupants to view the roadway at night and in other low ambient lighting conditions such as at dawn or dusk, when weather reduces ambient light, or when a vehicle is traveling through a dark tunnel. Visible illumination may also be used to assist autonomous driving systems. If desired, an autonomous driving system may use infrared image data and other data from infrared sensors. For example, infrared illumination may help light up a roadway at infrared wavelengths so that an infrared image sensor associated with an autonomous driving system can monitor the roadway. In an illustrative arrangement, a headlight may be operated in high-beam and low-beam modes in which visible light illumination is adjusted while simultaneously providing infrared light illumination. The infrared light illumination may be provided in a pattern that does not diminish in coverage as the headlight is switched between the high-beam and low-beam modes.
Vehicle 10 may be manually driven (e.g., by a human driver), may be operated via remote control, and/or may be autonomously operated (e.g., by an autonomous driving system or other autonomous propulsion system). Using vehicle sensors such as lidar, radar, visible and/or infrared cameras (e.g., two-dimensional and/or three-dimensional cameras), proximity (distance) sensors, and/or other sensors, an autonomous driving system and/or driver-assistance system in vehicle 10 may perform automatic braking, steering, and/or other operations to help avoid undesired collisions with pedestrians, inanimate objects, and/or other external structures such as illustrative obstacle 26 on roadway 14.
Vehicle 10 may include a body such as body 12. Body 12 may include vehicle structures such as body panels formed from metal and/or other materials, may include doors, a hood, a trunk, fenders, a chassis to which wheels are mounted, a roof, etc. Windows may be formed in doors 18 (e.g., on the sides of vehicle body 12, on the roof of vehicle 10, and/or in other portions of vehicle 10). Windows, doors 18, and other portions of body 12 may separate the interior of vehicle 10 from the exterior environment that is surrounding vehicle 10. Doors 18 may be opened and closed to allow people to enter and exit vehicle 10. Seats and other structures may be formed in the interior of vehicle body 12.
Vehicle 10 may have automotive lighting such as one or more headlights (sometimes referred to as headlamps), driving lights, fog lights, daytime running lights, turn signals, brake lights, and/or other lights. As shown in
Vehicle 10 may have components 24. Components 24 may include propulsion and steering systems (e.g., manually adjustable driving systems and/or autonomous driving systems having wheels coupled to body 12, steering controls, one or more motors for driving the wheels, etc.), and other vehicle systems. Components 24 may include control circuitry and input-output devices. Control circuitry in components 24 may be configured to run an autonomous driving application, a navigation application (e.g., an application for displaying maps on a display), and software for controlling vehicle climate control devices, lighting, media playback, window movement, door operations, sensor operations, and/or other vehicle operations. For example, the control system may form part of an autonomous driving system that drives vehicle 10 on roadways such as roadway 14 autonomously using data such as sensor data. The control circuitry may include processing circuitry and storage and may be configured to perform operations in vehicle 10 using hardware (e.g., dedicated hardware or circuitry), firmware and/or software. Software code for performing operations in vehicle 10 and other data is stored on non-transitory computer readable storage media (e.g., tangible computer readable storage media) in the control circuitry. The software code may sometimes be referred to as software, data, program instructions, computer instructions, instructions, or code. The non-transitory computer readable storage media may include non-volatile memory such as non-volatile random-access memory, one or more hard drives (e.g., magnetic drives or solid state drives), one or more removable flash drives or other removable media, or other storage. Software stored on the non-transitory computer readable storage media may be executed on the processing circuitry of components 24. The processing circuitry may include application-specific integrated circuits with processing circuitry, one or more microprocessors, a central processing unit (CPU) or other processing circuitry.
The input-output devices of components 24 may include displays, sensors, buttons, light-emitting diodes and other light-emitting devices, haptic devices, speakers, and/or other devices for gathering environmental measurements, information on vehicle operations, and/or user input and for providing output. The sensors in components 24 may include ambient light sensors, touch sensors, force sensors, proximity sensors, optical sensors such as cameras operating at visible, infrared, and/or ultraviolet wavelengths (e.g., fisheye cameras, two-dimensional cameras, three-dimensional cameras, and/or other cameras), capacitive sensors, resistive sensors, ultrasonic sensors (e.g., ultrasonic distance sensors), microphones, radio-frequency sensors such as radar sensors, lidar (light detection and ranging) sensors, door open/close sensors, seat pressure sensors and other vehicle occupant sensors, window sensors, position sensors for monitoring location, orientation, and movement, speedometers, satellite positioning system sensors, and/or other sensors. Output devices in components 24 may be used to provide vehicle occupants and others with haptic output, audio output, visual output (e.g., displayed content, light, etc.), and/or other suitable output.
During operation, the control circuitry of components 24 may gather information from sensors and/or other input-output devices such as lidar data, camera data (images), radar data, and/or other sensor data. Cameras, touch sensors, physical controls, and other input devices may be used to gather user input. Using wireless communications with vehicle 10, remote data sources may provide the control circuitry of components 24 with database information. Displays, speakers, and other output devices may be used to provide users with content such as interactive on-screen menu options and audio. A user may interact with this interactive content by supplying touch input to a touch sensor in a display and/or by providing user input with other input devices. If desired, the control circuitry of vehicle 10 may use sensor data, user input, information from remote databases, and/or other information in providing a driver with driver assistance information (e.g., information on nearby obstacles on a roadway and/or other environment surrounding vehicle 10) and/or in autonomously driving vehicle 10.
Components 24 may include sensors such as forward-facing sensors 24F (e.g., sensors that are directed in the +Y direction of
To ensure that roadway 14 and obstacles such as obstacle 26 are sufficiently well illuminated to be visible to a user in vehicle 10 and to be visible to visible-light image sensors in sensors 26F, headlights 16 may produce visible light illumination. To help ensure that infrared image sensors in forward-facing sensors 24F receive sufficient reflected infrared light from the illuminated structures in front of vehicle 10, headlights 16 may also produce infrared illumination.
Visible light from headlights 16 can distract drivers and others in oncoming traffic, so it may be desirable to provide headlights 16 with the ability to operate in a visible-light high-beam mode in which visible light illumination from headlights 16 is provided over a relatively large area (e.g., a high-beam pattern that encompasses both objects that are far in front of vehicle 10 and objects that are closer to vehicle 10) and in a visible-light low-beam mode in which visible light illumination is provided over a reduced area (e.g., a low-beam pattern that is directed downward towards roadway 14 directly in front of vehicle 10). When a driver or vehicle system in vehicle 10 detects oncoming traffic, the headlights may be placed in the low-beam mode to avoid directing excessive light towards the oncoming traffic. When no oncoming traffic is present, the headlights may be adjusted to operate in the high-beam mode to increase the area over which illumination is provided.
Infrared illumination is not visible to oncoming traffic, so infrared light may be provided by headlights 16 over a wide (e.g., high-beam) pattern regardless of the visible light operating mode of headlights 16. In this way, infrared image sensors in forward-facing sensors 26F may be provided with satisfactory illumination even when headlights 16 have been adjusted to produce visible light in a low-beam pattern. Regardless of whether headlights 16 are configured to produce visible high-beam light or visible low-beam light, the infrared light can have a high-beam pattern to that illuminates roadway 14 and external objects such as obstruction 26. High-beam infrared light may be directed towards oncoming traffic, but will not disturb the occupants of oncoming vehicles, because this light is invisible to vehicle occupants.
Light 34 may include visible light (e.g., light from 400 nm to 750 nm) and infrared light (e.g., near infrared light at one or more wavelengths from 800 to 2500 nm or other suitable infrared light). Headlight 16 may be operated in a high beam mode and a low beam mode (as examples). In the high beam mode, emitted light 34 includes light 36 that is directed forward horizontally (along the +Y axis of
Headlight 16 includes a light source such as light source 40. Light source 40 emits visible and infrared light 42. Light 42 may be reflected in forwards direction +Y by reflector 56 to produce reflected light 44. Reflector 56, which may be formed from metal, polymer, glass, and/or other materials, may have a parabolic profile or other curved cross-sectional profile (as an example). Metal coatings, dielectric thin-film coatings, and/or other coatings may be provided on reflector 56 to enhance reflectivity at visible and infrared wavelengths.
Reflected light 44 from reflector 56 may be controlled using an adjustable component such as adjustable light blocker 46. Light blocker 46 may be formed from an electrically adjustable light modulator layer, a physically adjusted shutter (e.g., a shutter that slides, rotates, and/or is otherwise moved by a positioner in a physical light-blocking device), or other device that can be electrically adjusted by control signals from control circuitry in components 24.
Adjustable light blocker 46 of
The control circuitry in components 24 can adjust light blocker 46 to adjust the visible component of light 44 that passes through lens 32. In a first mode (e.g., a low-beam mode), shutter member 52 is positioned as shown in
To assist infrared light sensors in vehicle 10, infrared light from light source 40 may be emitted by headlight 16 in both the first and second modes. Member 52 may be configured to pass infrared light (e.g., near infrared light) and to block visible light. Accordingly, the position of member 52 may be adjusted to adjust the visible light emission from headlight 16 without affecting the infrared light emission from headlight 16. Because member 52 is transparent at infrared wavelengths, emitted light 34 may include both horizontal light 36 and downwardly angled light 38 at infrared wavelengths regardless of the position of member 52 (e.g., infrared light may be emitted in a high-beam pattern in both the first and second modes of operation). This allows vehicle 10 to provide sufficient infrared illumination in front of vehicle 10 for infrared sensors in vehicle 10 to operate satisfactorily.
An illustrative light source for headlight 16 is shown in
The surfaces of combiner 62 may be provided with cladding material (e.g., transparent polymer or other dielectric material with a lower refractive index than the refractive index of the core structures of combiner 62), may be provided with a reflective coating such as a metal coating or dielectric mirror coating, and/or may be provided with other structures that help confine light from light sources 60A and 60B within combiner 62. During operation, light from sources 60A and 60B propagates along the lengths of the arms of combiner 62 (e.g., this light may be guided internally in accordance with the principal of total internal reflection and/or due to reflections from metal surface coatings or other optical confinement structures). The arms of combiner 62 may be cylindrical or may have other suitable shapes (e.g., elongated shapes with circular cross sections, rectangular cross sections, etc.). The entrance faces of combiner 62 from which the arms of combiner 62 receive light from sources 60A and 60 may be circular, may be rectangular, or may have other suitable shapes. The exit face of combiner 62 from which the mixed infrared and visible light of source 40 is emitted may be circular, rectangular, and/or may have other suitable shapes.
In
Accordingly, infrared light will always be emitted widely (e.g., in a high-beam pattern) by headlight 16, whereas visible light will be emitted in either a low-beam pattern or a high-beam pattern depending on the state of light blocker 46. The low-beam visible light pattern emitted by headlight 16 in the low-beam mode of headlight 16 may be used to accommodate oncoming traffic. The high-beam visible light pattern emitted by headlight 16 in the high-beam mode may be used to enhance visible light illumination for occupants of vehicle 10 when oncoming traffic is absent (and may provide enhanced visible light illumination for visible light sensors in vehicle 10). The high-beam infrared light that is emitted in both of these operating modes may be used to help illuminate external objects for infrared cameras or other infrared sensors in vehicle 10. For example, high-beam infrared light may be used to illuminate objects so that infrared cameras and/or other infrared sensors in vehicle 10 can gather infrared images and/or other infrared sensor readings on the external environment surrounding vehicle 10. Vehicle 10 may use this infrared data in operating vehicle 10 (e.g., in operating an autonomous driving system for vehicle 10 and/or for providing driver assistance features for vehicle 10 such as proximity warnings.
Although sometimes described herein in the context of fixed headlight configurations, headlights 16 may be provided with positioners to steer housing 30 and thereby steer illumination 20, may be provided with adjustable sets of light-emitting diodes or other light-emitting devices that are configured to produce different patterns of illumination when different subsets of the devices are selectively activated, and/or may be provided with other structures that allow illumination 20 to be steered (e.g., left and right, up and down, etc.), and/or to be otherwise adjusted to form desired light patterns that are aimed in desired directions (e.g., headlights 16 may be adaptive headlights).
The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made to the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application No. 63/208,316, filed Jun. 8, 2021, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63208316 | Jun 2021 | US |