Nvidia launches AI solution to control vehicle high beam anti-glare according to actual conditions

According to foreign media reports, although high beams can penetrate thick fog, they can cause dazzle to oncoming drivers because most commercial high beam systems do not automatically adjust to compensate for the brightness of sunlight, which can easily cause dazzle.

(Image source: NVIDIA)

NVIDIA Drive Labs has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) solution to this problem, AutoHighBeamNet. This solution is based on a camera system and is a component of the AutoDrivingBeam module of NVIDIA Drive software. It can use road condition signals to automatically control the output of the car's high beam.

AutoHighBeamNet uses image data from the front camera, processes it and outputs it to AutoDrivingBeam, and the format can be customized by automakers based on vehicle speed, environmental conditions, etc. Nvidia said that AutoHighBeamNet does not generate control signals based on the lux (unit of lighting) intensity of other light sources, but reacts to active vehicles in the perceived camera frame. (If there are parked vehicles on the side of the road and the lights are off, they will be ignored).

The control signal can be in one of two modes: Automatic High Beam (AHB) mode (control on/off) and Adaptive High Beam (ADB) mode (control of the individual high beam LED array to create a "glare-free" zone). In AHB mode, the vehicle's high beams automatically turn on in low light conditions at night, and if moving vehicles are detected, the high beams automatically turn off and switch to low beams. In ADB mode, if another vehicle is detected, the high beams dim the individual LEDs in the high beam LED array headlights to prevent dazzling moving vehicles.

Nvidia said there is an application programming interface (API) to support AHB mode in Nvidia Drive version 10.0, and in the meantime, automakers will need to customize strategies to control the car's high beams.