Adaptive headlights
AssigneeToyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
InventorEthan Pomish
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for adaptive lights for use in a vehicle includes a headlight configured to generate light to be at least partially directed away from the vehicle to illuminate a portion of an environment of the vehicle. The system further includes a sensor configured to detect data corresponding to an environmental condition in the environment of the vehicle. The system further includes an electronic control unit (ECU) coupled to the headlight and the sensor and configured to determine the environmental condition based on the detected data and to adjust an intensity and an orientation of the light generated by the headlight based on the environmental condition.
Claims17
A system for adaptive lights for use in a vehicle, the system comprising:
- a headlight configured to generate light to be at least partially directed away from the vehicle to illuminate a portion of an environment of the vehicle;
- a first sensor configured to detect data corresponding to a weather condition in the environment of the vehicle;
- a second sensor configured to detect a presence of a second vehicle in a vicinity of the vehicle and a relative distance of the second vehicle to the vehicle;
- a display located in a vehicle cabin and configured to display information;
- and
- an electronic control unit (ECU) coupled to the headlight, the first sensor, the display, and the second sensor and configured to determine the weather condition based on the detected data, to adjust an intensity or an orientation of the light generated by the headlight based on the weather condition, to adjust a beam width of the light as it is output by the headlight to be at least one of narrower or broader in a vertical direction based on the weather condition, determine a low visibility condition when the weather condition reduces visibility in the environment of the vehicle, and control the display to output a representation of the second vehicle when the low visibility condition is determined, the representation of the second vehicle changing in size based on the relative distance of the second vehicle to the vehicle.
A system for adaptive lights for use in a vehicle, the system comprising:
- a headlight configured to generate light to be at least partially directed away from the vehicle to illuminate a portion of an environment of the vehicle;
- a network access device configured to receive information corresponding to a weather condition in the environment of the vehicle and a presence of a second vehicle in a vicinity of the vehicle and a relative distance of the second vehicle to the vehicle;
- a display located in a vehicle cabin and configured to display information;
- and
- an electronic control unit (ECU) coupled to the headlight, the display, and the network access device and configured to adjust an intensity or an orientation of the light generated by the headlight based on the weather condition, to adjust a beam width of the light as it is output by the headlight to be at least one of narrower or broader in a vertical direction based on the weather condition, determine a low visibility condition when the weather condition reduces visibility in the environment of the vehicle, and control the display to output a representation of the second vehicle when the low visibility condition is determined, the representation of the second vehicle changing in size based on the relative distance of the second vehicle to the vehicle.
A method for adaptive lights for use in a vehicle, the method comprising:
- generating, by a headlight, light to be at least partially directed away from the vehicle to illuminate a portion of an environment of the vehicle;
- detecting, by a first sensor, data corresponding to a weather condition in the environment of the vehicle;
- detecting, by a second sensor, a presence of a second vehicle in a vicinity of the vehicle and a relative distance of the second vehicle to the vehicle;
- determining, by an electronic control unit (ECU), the weather condition based on the detected data;
- adjusting, by the ECU, an intensity or an orientation of the light generated by the headlight based on the weather condition;
- adjusting, by the ECU, a beam width of the light as it is output by the headlight to be at least one of narrower or broader in a vertical direction based on the weather condition;
- determining, by the ECU, a low visibility condition when the weather condition reduces visibility in the environment of the vehicle;
- controlling, by the ECU, a display located in a vehicle cabin to output a representation of the second vehicle when the low visibility condition is determined;
- and
- changing, by the display, a size of the representation of the second vehicle based on the relative distance of the second vehicle to the vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.