Vehicle with road surface rendering function

A vehicle with a road surface rendering function, the vehicle comprising:

• a projection member configured to project a projection pattern that is one of predefined images onto a road surface ahead of the vehicle, the projection member being distinct from and independently controllable relative to low-beam and high-beam light sources;
• a detection device comprising an external camera fixed to the vehicle and configured to capture images of a forward road surface that includes the projection pattern;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• determine, based on the captured images, whether a first road surface area ahead of the vehicle rises relative to a second road surface area on which the vehicle is currently traveling, the determining including detecting, in successive captured images, that a position of the projection pattern itself shifts toward a lower portion of a field of view by at least a threshold;
• stop projecting the projection pattern by the projection member, based only on determining that the first road surface area rises relative to the second road surface area;
• and
• resume, without requiring driver input and upon determining that the vehicle has passed through the first road surface area determined as rising, projection of the projection pattern onto the road surface ahead of the vehicle.