Vehicle rear lamp
A rear lamp (RL) provided on a rear part of a vehicle (CAR 1 ), wherein the rear lamp (RL) includes, in addition to a normal lamp, a sub-tail lamp (STL) configured to be lit on at least when a following vehicle is self-driving and to be detectable by the following vehicle when lit on. Since the following vehicle detects the sub-tail lamp (STL) lit in addition to the normal lamp, it is possible to detect the sub-tail lamp (STL) more accurately and more reliably than in detection of the normal lamp, and to detect the preceding vehicle (CAR 1 ) in a highly accurate and quick manner.
1. A vehicle rear lamp which is disposed at a rear of a vehicle, the vehicle rear lamp comprising:
a sub-lamp which is detectable by a following vehicle when turned on; and
a main lamp,
wherein the vehicle rear lamp has a normal-driving lighting mode and a self-driving lighting mode, and
wherein the sub-lamp is configured to be turned on and off concurrently with the main lamp in the self-driving lighting mode, and the sub-lamp is configured to be not turned on with the main lamp in the normal-driving lighting mode.
2. The vehicle rear lamp according to claim 1 ,
wherein the sub-lamp is configured to emit near-infrared light.
3. The vehicle rear lamp according to claim 2 ,
wherein the sub-lamp is configured integrally with or separately from the rear lamp installed in the vehicle.
4. The vehicle rear lamp according to claim 1 ,
wherein the sub-lamp is turned on when the vehicle is self-driving or the following vehicle is judged to be in self-driving.
5. The vehicle rear lamp according to claim 1 , wherein the sub-lamp is configured to be turned on and turned off concurrently with the main lamp.
6. The vehicle rear lamp according to claim 5 , wherein the main lamp comprises a tail lamp and a brake lamp.
7. The vehicle rear lamp according to claim 2 , wherein the near-infrared light is controlled to be turned on independently from the main lamp.
8. The vehicle rear lamp according to claim 1 ,
wherein the sub-lamp is arranged at a center of the rear of the vehicle, and
wherein the sub-lamp include an outer cover which has light absorbing function.
9. The vehicle rear lamp according to claim 1 ,
wherein the sub-lamp includes a plurality of near-infrared LEDs arranged in a matrix form to form a light pattern which is determined based on a driving condition of the vehicle.
10. The vehicle rear lamp according to claim 1 ,
wherein the sub-lamp is configured to emit light which has intensity or polarization modulated based on a driving condition of the vehicle.