Vehicle automatic exterior light control

Abstract

A system and method of automatically controlling vehicle exterior lights including an image sensor and a controller to generate headlamp control signals.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 326,673, filed Dec. 19, 2002, by Joseph S. Stam et al. entitled “VEHICLE LAMP CONTROL,” which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 528,389 filed Mar. 20, 2000, by Joseph S. Stam et al. entitled “VEHICLE LAMP CONTROL,” now U.S. Pat. No. 6,611,610, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 151,487 entitled “CONTROL SYSTEM TO AUTOMATICALLY DIM VEHICLE HEAD LAMPS,” filed on Sep. 11, 1998, by Joseph S. Stam et al., now U.S. Pat. No. 6,255,639, which is a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,994, entitled “CONTROL SYSTEM TO AUTOMATICALLY DIM VEHICLE HEAD LAMPS,” filed on Apr. 2, 1997, by Joseph S. Stam et al., the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 is hereby claimed on the above-identified patent applications.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention p...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Some systems that effectively detect headlights are unable to adequately detect taillights.

Most prior systems are unable to distinguish nuisance light sources, such as reflectors, street signs, streetlights, house lights, or the like, from light sources that require headlight control.

Accordingly, these systems are subject to undesirable dimming of the high beams when no other traffic is present and turning on the high beams when other vehicles are present.

In addition to the undesirable performance, it is difficult for prior systems to comply with the legal requirements as described above for high beam control while avoiding unnecessary dimming of the vehicle headlamps.

Fog lights are examples of other vehicle lights that are difficult to control automatically.

A reliable method of automatically controlling such fog lights has not been available.

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