Apparatus and method for controlling light distribution using steering information

A system for controlling light distribution using steering information of a vehicle to form a glare free area for avoiding glare to a driver of a preceding vehicle while the headlamp is illuminating a road ahead of the vehicle, the system comprising:

• a headlamp configured to emit a light beam for illuminating a road ahead of the vehicle;
• a steering sensor configured to sense a rotation speed of a steering device of the vehicle;
• a steering information detector configured to detect an amount of change to a steering value representing the rotation speed of the steering device;
• a processor;
• and
• a computer-readable medium in communication with the processor and storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to control the system to perform:
• comparing a first amount of change to the steering value detected at a first time to a predetermined steering reference value;
• determining, based on the comparison between the detected first amount of change and the predetermined steering reference value, that the first amount of change is not greater than or equal to the predetermined steering reference value;
• in response to determining that the detected first amount of change is not greater than or equal to the predetermined steering reference value, controlling the headlamp to maintain the glare free area without expanding or reducing the glare free area;
• comparing a second amount of change to the steering value detected at a second time subsequent to the first time to the predetermined steering reference value;
• determining, based on the comparison between the second amount of change and the predetermined steering reference value, that the detected second amount of change is greater than or equal to the predetermined steering reference value;
• and
• in response to determining that the detected second amount of change is greater than or equal to the predetermined steering reference value, controlling the headlamp to expand or reduce the glare free area between a basic margin and a maximum margin based on the second amount of change,
• wherein, for controlling the headlamp to expand or reduce the glare free area, the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to control the system to perform at least one of:
• controlling the headlamp to expand the glare free area toward the maximum margin at a first rotation speed of the steering device;
• and
• controlling the headlamp to reduce the glare free area toward the basic margin at a second rotation speed of the steering device that is lower than the first rotation speed.