KR20160110725A - Head up display and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a head-up display and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to a head-up display and a control method therefor, which comprises a control unit for determining a content to be projected in a visible region of a driver and a projection position thereof, And an optical system for changing an optical path of an output image and projecting the output image to a visible region of a driver, wherein the optical system divides the output image into at least two or more images having different projection distances and projects the image.

Description

HEAD UP DISPLAY AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a head-up display and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to a head-up display and a control method thereof for forming a plurality of eye boxes.

With the development of electronic devices, functions for safety and performance of the vehicle have been developed and devices for the convenience of the driver have been developed. Especially, attention has been paid to a head up display (HUD) of a vehicle.

The head-up display is designed to display driving information on the windshield of a vehicle or airplane. It was originally introduced to secure the front view of an airplane pilot, but recently it has also been introduced in vehicles to reduce accidents.

The head-up display for the vehicle displays various vehicle information such as arrow information for guiding a route change, text information for expressing a speed, etc., in an augmented reality form on a windshield or beyond a windshield in cooperation with a navigation Thereby preventing the driver's line of sight from being dispersed.

That is, the driver does not need to move his or her eyes to the direction of the terminal providing the corresponding information in order to confirm the vehicle information, and can safely drive the driver while viewing the head-up display image.

In the early stage of the introduction of the head-up display, since the image is fixedly projected at a predetermined position, there is a problem that the image is obscured by the driver's viewpoint change or the view angle of the driver is limited by the image.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 1, a head-up display capable of controlling the height of an image to be projected according to a driver's viewpoint change or taste is mainly used. The dotted line shown in Fig. 1 means an eye-box, in which the eye-box means an area in which the image projected by the head-up display can be maintained clearly. In other words, when the position of the projected image deviates from the eye box, the image is distorted. Therefore, the head-up display generally moves the position of the projected image only within the eye box.

The size, shape, position, etc. of such an eye box is generally determined by the aspherical mirror included in the optical system of the head-up display. That is, the size, shape, position and the like of the eye box are determined according to the size of the aspherical mirror, the installation position, the curvature, and the rotational driving angle. In addition, since it is general that the installation positions of the remaining components of the optical system are determined according to the characteristics of the aspherical mirror, the projection distance of the image projected on the eye box is also determined by the aspherical mirror.

On the other hand, the background art of the present invention is disclosed in Korean Patent No. 10-1361095 (Feb.

 However, since the conventional head-up display can form only one eye box, there is a problem that the projection distance can not be changed even if the position of the projected image can be changed in the eye box.

That is, the driver changes the position of the focus to the position of the focus instead of changing only the position of the line of sight during driving of the vehicle. However, since the conventional head-up display has to project an image at a fixed focal distance (fixed projection distance) There was a problem that the field of view could be rather disturbed.

In other words, when the driver gazes at a distant place, the position of the line of sight becomes higher and the focal distance becomes farther than when gazing at a close place. However, in the conventional head-up display, only the position of the projected image can be moved upward, The difference between the focal distance of the driver and the focal distance of the projected image occurs, and thus the view of the driver can be disturbed.

In order to solve such a problem, there is a method of mounting two head-up displays having different focal lengths on the vehicle, but the installation cost is increased, and in particular, there is a problem that the volume of the head-up display module is increased and the weight is increased do.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a head-up display capable of forming a plurality of eye boxes having different focal lengths and a control method thereof.

A head-up display according to the present invention includes a control unit for determining a content to be projected in a visible region of a driver and a projection position thereof; An image generation unit for outputting an image under the control of the control unit; And an optical system for changing the optical path of the image output from the image generation unit and projecting the optical path of the image to a visible region of the driver, wherein the optical system divides the output image into at least two or more images having different projection distances, .

In the present invention, the optical system includes an aspheric mirror for determining a projection distance and magnification of an image to be projected, wherein the aspheric mirror is divided into at least two active areas having different aspheric coefficients.

In the present invention, the optical system includes a screen corresponding to each of the at least two active regions.

In the present invention, the active region includes a first active region forming an eye-box on a lower side of a visible region of a driver, and a second active region forming an eye box on an upper side of the eye box formed by the first active region. And two active regions.

In the present invention, the projection distance of the first active region is shorter than the projection distance of the second active region.

In the present invention, the magnification of the first active region is smaller than the magnification of the second active region.

The head-up display according to the present invention further includes a vehicle speed sensor for measuring the speed of the vehicle, wherein the control unit determines the projection position of the content based on the speed measured through the vehicle speed sensor.

In the present invention, the controller controls the image generator to project additional information through the first active area and project driving information through the second active area when the measured speed is equal to or higher than a reference speed, And controls the image generating unit so that the traveling information is projected through the first active area and the additional information is projected through the second active area when the speed is less than the reference speed.

In the present invention, the image generator outputs an image using a laser scanning method.

A method of controlling a head-up display according to the present invention includes the steps of: Determining, by the control unit, a content to be projected in a visible region of the driver based on the measured speed and a projection position thereof; And outputting an image according to the result of the step of the control unit determining the content to be projected and the projection position thereof.

In the step of determining the content to be projected and the projection position thereof, the control unit projects the additional information to the lower side of the visible region of the driver if the measured speed is equal to or higher than the reference speed, It is determined that the running information is projected and that the traveling information is projected on the lower side and the additional information is projected on the upper side when the measured speed is less than the reference speed.

The head-up display and the control method thereof according to the present invention can form a plurality of eye boxes and adjust the projection distance of the contents according to the positions of the eye boxes so that the driver can recognize the information of the vehicle with only a minimum eye movement It is effective.

The head-up display and the control method thereof according to the present invention have the effect of reducing the cost compared to the case of using a plurality of PGUs by forming a plurality of eye boxes by using one picture generation unit (PGU) and an optical system have.

The head-up display and the control method thereof according to the present invention have an effect of allowing the driver to quickly recognize the information of the vehicle by changing the projection position for each content according to the speed of the vehicle.

1 is an exemplary diagram for explaining an image projection form of a conventional head-up display.
2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a head-up display according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is an exemplary view for explaining an aspherical mirror of a conventional head-up display.
4 is an exemplary view illustrating an aspherical mirror of a head-up display according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a diagram illustrating an image projection mode of a head-up display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
6 is an exemplary view for explaining the configuration and operation of a head-up display according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a head-up display according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of a head-up display and a control method thereof according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this process, the thicknesses of the lines and the sizes of the components shown in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity and convenience of explanation. In addition, the terms described below are defined in consideration of the functions of the present invention, which may vary depending on the intention or custom of the user, the operator. Therefore, definitions of these terms should be made based on the contents throughout this specification.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a head-up display according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an aspheric mirror of a conventional head-up display. FIG. 5 is an exemplary view for explaining an image projection mode of a head-up display according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a view for explaining an aspheric mirror of a head- The head-up display according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

2, a head-up display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a controller 100, a picture generation unit (PGU) 110, an optical system 120, and a vehicle speed sensor 130. [ .

The image generation unit 110 may output an image according to the control of the control unit 100. That is, the control unit 100 outputs an image through the image generation unit 110 so that the image is projected on the visible region of the driver.

The optical system 120 can change the optical path of the image output from the image generating unit 110 and project the optical path to the visible region of the driver. For example, the optical system 120 may include a plurality of mirrors, and may reflect the image output from the image generating unit 110 to the windshield of the vehicle.

The optical system 120 may divide the image output from the image generating unit 110 into at least two or more images having different projection distances and project the images. That is, since the image composed of one screen outputted from the image generating unit 110 is divided into at least two images having different projection distances through the optical system 120 and projected, the head-up displays according to the present embodiment are different At least two images having a focal distance can be projected.

Since one image output by the image generating unit 110 can be divided into at least two images having different projection distances, the image generating unit 110 can focus on the image regardless of the projection distance, Output method should be used. For example, the image generating unit 110 may output an image using a laser scanning method.

The vehicle speed sensor 130 can measure the speed of the vehicle. For example, the vehicle speed sensor 130 can detect the rotation of the transmission output side and measure the speed of the vehicle.

The optical system 120 may include an aspheric mirror 121 for determining a projection distance and magnification of an image to be projected, and the aspheric mirror 121 may be divided into at least two or more active areas having different aspheric coefficients . Here, the active area means an area forming one eye box, and will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5. FIG.

As can be seen in FIG. 3, the aspherical mirror of the conventional head-up display has only one active area, and forms only one eye box as shown in FIG. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, since the aspherical mirror 121 of the head-up display according to the present embodiment is divided into a plurality of active regions, a plurality of eye boxes can be formed as shown in FIG.

The division of the active region can be achieved by forming the aspherical mirror 121 so as to have different aspheric coefficients (curvatures) for the respective active regions, which are generated by the shape of the aspherical mirror 121. In addition, the projected distance and magnification of the image projected on the eye box formed by each active area may vary depending on the aspherical surface coefficient.

For example, the active area of the aspheric mirror 121 is divided into a first active area that forms an eye box on the lower side (e.g., the yellow box of FIG. 5) of the visible region of the driver and a second active area that forms an eye box And a second active area forming an eye box on the upper side (e.g., red box in Fig. 5).

The projection distance of the first active area may be shorter than the projection distance of the second active area. That is, the projection distance of the image projected on the eye box formed by the second active area may be longer than the projection distance of the image projected on the eye box formed by the first active area, May be longer than the focal length of the eye box formed by the first active region. In other words, the eye box formed by the second active area can be designed in accordance with the focal distance and the view position when the driver gazes at a distant place, and the eye box formed by the first active area can be designed Focal length and viewing position.

Also, the magnification of the first active area may be smaller than the magnification of the second active area. That is, the size of the image projected on the eye box formed by the second active area is made larger than the size of the image projected on the eye box formed by the first active area, thereby preventing the size difference of the contents from being sensed according to the sight line variation of the driver can do.

The image projection process will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 6, the image output from the image generating unit 110 can reach the aspherical mirror 121 through the screen 122 and the mirror, and the thus-arrived image is enlarged (enlarged) by the aspherical mirror 121 And is projected onto the visible region of the driver.

In this embodiment, since the aspherical mirror 121 can be divided into two or more active regions having different projection distances, the image output from the image generating unit 110 is separated into two or more images having different optical paths And can reach the aspherical mirror 121.

Also, in this embodiment, since the image generating unit 110 can output an image by the laser scanning method, the optical system 120 may include the screens 122 corresponding to the respective active areas. As shown in FIG. 6, such a screen 122 may be either reflective or transmissive.

That is, the image output from the image generating unit 110 can be divided into images having different optical paths through different screens 122, and the separated images are transmitted to the respective active areas of the aspherical mirror 121 through the mirrors Lt; / RTI > The reflected images are magnified and reflected by the aspherical mirror 121, and projected onto the windshield. As described above, the position and size of each projected image can be changed according to each active area.

Also, as can be seen from FIG. 6, since the optical path of the projected image can be different for each active area, the focal distance of the eye box formed by each active area can be changed. That is, in the head-up display according to the present embodiment, a plurality of eye boxes can be implemented using only a single PGU through the configuration of the optical system 120. [

The control unit 100 controls the image generation unit 110 so that the head-up display can smoothly operate so as to correspond to the optical system 120. That is, the controller 100 may calculate the shape of the image so that one image may be divided into several images according to the separated optical path, and output the generated image through the image generating unit 110.

In addition, the control unit 100 can determine the content to be projected in the visible region of the driver and its projection position. That is, the control unit 100 determines the content to be displayed through the head-up display such as the route information, the speed of the vehicle, the engine RPM, the state of the fuel, and the like in cooperation with various systems of the vehicle such as the navigation system of the vehicle, (The position of the projected eye box and the corresponding eye box) to be projected.

For example, the control unit 100 can determine the projection position of the content based on the speed of the vehicle measured through the vehicle speed sensor 130. More specifically, when the measured speed is equal to or higher than the reference speed, the control unit 100 determines that the additional information is projected to the lower side of the visible region of the driver and the traveling information is projected to the upper side than the lower side, It can be determined that the running information is projected on the lower side and the additional information is projected on the upper side.

That is, when the speed of the vehicle increases, the sight line of the driver looks at a distant place, so that the driving information can be projected in the area to be watched by the driver, and the additional information can be projected to the area not monitored by the driver. Here, the driving information means contents related to the running of the vehicle such as the speed of the vehicle, a warning display (e.g., cooling water warning), and the additional information means contents having additional functions such as weather information.

Also, since the head-up display according to the present embodiment can form a plurality of eye boxes having different focal lengths, the controller 100 can determine the projected position of the contents by considering not only the position of the driver's gaze but also the focal distance .

That is, if the measured speed is equal to or higher than the reference speed, the control unit 100 controls the image generating unit 110 to project the additional information through the first active area and project the driving information through the second active area, If it is less than the reference speed, the image generating unit 110 can be controlled so that the running information is projected through the first active area and the additional information is projected through the second active area.

In other words, the control unit 100 determines the position and the focal distance of the driver's gaze based on the speed of the vehicle, thereby determining the display position of the main information, thereby allowing the driver to quickly recognize the main information of the vehicle.

Meanwhile, in the present embodiment, the image output unit 110 can output an image using the laser scanning method, so that the control unit 100 can distinguish between the eye boxes formed by turning off the laser diode among the respective active areas . Similarly, in the active area in which the additional information is to be displayed, the laser diode may be turned off to prevent the image from being projected in the eye box.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling a head-up display according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 7, a method of controlling a head-up display according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described.

As shown in FIG. 7, the controller 100 first measures the speed of the vehicle (S200). That is, when the speed of the vehicle increases, the line of sight of the driver changes, so that the control unit 100 can determine the display position of the contents by measuring the speed of the vehicle.

Then, the controller 100 determines whether the speed measured in step S200 is high (S210). For example, the control unit 100 can determine that the vehicle is at a high speed if the vehicle speed is equal to or higher than the reference speed.

If it is determined as a result of the determination in step S210, the controller 100 outputs an image so that additional information is displayed in the first active area and driving information is displayed in the second active area in step S220. That is, when the speed of the vehicle increases, the driver's line of sight looks farther, so that the control unit 100 projects the driving information to the area that the driver watches and projects the additional information to the area not monitored by the driver.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the vehicle speed is not high as a result of the determination in step S210, the controller 100 outputs an image so that driving information is displayed in the first active area and driving information is displayed in the second active area in step S230.

As described above, the head-up display and the control method thereof according to the embodiment of the present invention form a plurality of eye boxes and adjust the projection distance of the contents according to the positions of the eye boxes formed, By forming a plurality of eye boxes by using a single picture generation unit (PGU) and an optical system, it is possible to save costs compared with the case of using a plurality of PGUs, By changing the projection position, the driver can quickly recognize the information of the vehicle.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. I will understand. Accordingly, the technical scope of the present invention should be defined by the following claims.

100:
110:
120: Optical system
121: Aspherical mirror
122: Screen
130: vehicle speed sensor

Claims (12)

A control unit for determining a content to be projected and a projected position of the projected image in a visible region of the driver;
An image generation unit for outputting an image under the control of the control unit; And
And an optical system for changing the optical path of the image output from the image generator and projecting the optical path to a visible region of the driver,
Wherein the optical system divides the output image into at least two or more images having different projection distances and projects the divided images.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the optical system includes an aspheric mirror for determining a projection distance and a magnification of an image to be projected,
Wherein the aspherical mirror is divided into at least two active areas having different aspheric coefficients.
3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the optical system includes a screen corresponding to each of the at least two active areas.
3. The method of claim 2,
The active region includes a first active region forming an eye-box on a lower side of a driver's visible region and a second active region forming an eye box on an upper side of the eye box formed by the first active region. ≪ / RTI >
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the projection distance of the first active region is shorter than the projection distance of the second active region.
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the magnification of the first active area is less than the magnification of the second active area.
The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a vehicle speed sensor for measuring the speed of the vehicle,
Wherein the control unit determines the projection position of the content based on the speed measured through the vehicle speed sensor.
8. The method of claim 7,
The optical system includes an aspheric mirror for determining a projection distance and magnification of an image to be projected, wherein the aspheric mirror is divided into at least two or more active areas having different aspheric coefficients, And a second active area for forming an eye box on an upper side of the eye box formed by the first active area, wherein the first active area forms an eye- .
9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the control unit controls the image generating unit such that additional information is projected through the first active area and the traveling information is projected through the second active area when the measured speed is equal to or higher than a reference speed, And controls the image generating unit so that driving information is projected through the first active area and additional information is projected through the second active area if the reference speed is less than the reference speed.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the image generating unit outputs an image using a laser scanning method.
The control unit measuring the speed of the vehicle;
Determining, by the control unit, a content to be projected in a visible region of the driver based on the measured speed and a projection position thereof; And
And outputting an image in accordance with the result of the step of the control unit determining the content to be projected and its projection position.
12. The method of claim 11,
In determining the content to be projected and its projection position,
Wherein the controller determines that additional information is projected to a lower side of a visible region of a driver when the measured speed is equal to or higher than a reference speed and that traveling information is projected to an upper side of the lower side, The driving information is projected on the lower side and the additional information is projected on the upper side.

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