Patent ID: 8019512

Claim:
A system for controlling a headlight of a vehicle to be controlled, the system comprising: a distance detector detecting a distance between the controlled vehicle and an other vehicle ahead thereof; a determiner determine determining a target located at the detected distance with respect to the controlled vehicle, and determining a first target direction for an optical axis of the headlight in a vertical direction when it is assumed that the optical axis of the headlight passes through the target located at the detected distance with respect to the controlled vehicle, the target having a predetermined height above a predetermined reference point, the predetermined height of the target being unchanged irrespective of a change in the detected distance; a first adjuster adjusting the direction of the optical axis of the headlight in the vertical direction so that the direction of the optical axis is matched with the determined first target direction; a vehicle-speed detector detecting a speed of the controlled vehicle; a driving condition detector detecting at least one driving condition of the controlled vehicle; a driving mode detector detecting which driving mode the controlled vehicle operates is based on: the detected driving condition, the detected distance between the controlled vehicle and the other vehicle, and the detected speed of the controlled vehicle; and a height-adjusting unit adjusting the predetermined height of the target based on the detected driving mode of the controlled vehicle, wherein the determiner changes the first target direction for the optical axis of the headlight in the vertical direction so that the first adjuster adjusts the optical axis of the headlamp to be matched with the changed first target direction.