A rain sensor according to an embodiment comprises: a substrate; a sensing electrode formed on a first surface of the substrate; a reaction layer formed on the first surface of the substrate and burying an upper surface of the substrate and the sensing electrode; a driving unit electrically connected to the sensing electrode formed on the first surface of the substrate and processing a sensing signal transmitted through the sensing electrode; and a protective layer formed surrounding the driving unit, wherein an impedance value according to a change of at least one of a force and a dielectric constant caused by presence of rainfall is changed, and the sensing electrode transmits the sensing signal with respect to a variation amount of the impedance value of the reaction layer to the driving unit.

An apparatus includes a sensor supported by a sensor arm and a wiper blade. The sensor includes a cylindrical windows having an obstructed portion and a viewing portion. The wiper blade is attached to the sensor and movable across the viewing portion from a resting position contacting the obstructed portion.

A vision system for a vehicle includes a driver-side exterior mirror assembly having a driver-side camera for capturing driver-side image data and a passenger-side exterior mirror assembly having a passenger-side camera for capturing passenger-side image data. A video display disposed at the vehicle displays video images derived from image data captured by the driver-side and passenger-side cameras. The video display includes a driver-side display portion and a passenger-side display portion. The driver-side display portion of the video display displays video images derived from driver-side image data captured by the driver-side camera and does not display video images derived from any passenger-side image data captured by the passenger-side camera. The passenger-side display portion of the video display displays video images derived from passenger-side image data captured by the passenger-side camera and does not display video images derived from any driver-side image data captured by the driver-side camera.

A clearing system removes water and other obstructions from an external-mounted rear-view camera of a vehicle. The system includes an air line connected to a compressed-air source and routed to the camera, and a control valve operable to selectively release compressed air from the air source through the air line. A discharge nozzle of the air line is positioned adjacent a lens cover of the camera to deliver an air blast across the lens cover to remove adhered water. The nozzle is positioned outside of the field of view of the camera so that it does not obstruct the view of the camera. In various embodiments, the compressed-air source and the camera are preexisting and the clearing system is retrofit onto the vehicle, the compressed-air source and/or the camera are provided with the clearing system as a kit, and/or the clearing system is installed as original equipment on the vehicle.

A lens component of an optical rain sensor (10) has an emitter lens (16) configured as a Fresnel lens and a receiver lens (18) configured as a Fresnel lens, each of which, in a top view, has a rectangular contour with first edges and second edges extending at right angles thereto, the center (M.sub.S) of the emitter lens (16) and/or the center (M.sub.E) of the receiver lens (18) being arranged off-center with respect to the side length of at least one of the edges, and the emitter lens (16) and the receiver lens (18) being arranged side by side. The lens component (12) is manufactured in a negative molding process in which first and second mold inserts are arranged side by side, each of which having a Fresnel lens mold, the first and second mold inserts each being selectively arranged in a manner rotated through 0 or through 180, and the mold inserts arranged in this way forming a negative mold for the emitter lens (16) and the receiver lens (18) of the lens component (12) during the negative molding process. This provides a modular system for manufacturing optical rain sensors (10), having lens components (12) in a plurality of different configurations which differ from each other in regard to the distance of the centers (M.sub.S, M.sub.E) of the emitter lens (16) and the receiver lens (18). For manufacturing the lens component (12), the mold inserts are arranged side by side, each in a manner selectively rotated through 0 or through 180, and are negative-molded using a suitable plastic material. This is performed in a tool for manufacturing a lens component (12), which includes a mount into which the mold inserts can be placed next to each other along the second edge, the first and/or the second mold insert each being adapted to be inserted into the mount in a manner rotated through 0 or through 180.

A lens receives light from an emitting element and guides the light reflected on an outer surface of a windshield toward a receiving element. Arithmetic processing is to acquire, as a sensor output signal, a difference between a light receiving value of the receiving element before or after an emission timing of pulsed light and a light receiving value at the emission timing. Comparison processing is to determine that the present value is normal and to use the present value as the sensor output signal when a difference between a previous value and a present value of the sensor output signal is less than a threshold. The comparison processing is to determine that the present value is abnormal and not to use the present value for controlling a wiper device when the difference is greater than or equal to the abnormality threshold.

Method and apparatus are disclosed for detection and identification of opaqueness of vehicle windows. An example vehicle includes a window including an interior surface and an exterior surface, a light transmitter to emit light, and light sensors to measure the light. The light sensors include a first sensor offset from and a second sensor aligned with the interior surface. The light sensors also include a third sensor offset from and a fourth sensor aligned with the exterior surface. The example vehicle also includes a controller for detecting a source of opaqueness of the window via the light sensors.

A semiconductor device including an abnormality detection section that detects an abnormality occurring in a moving body that moves along a specific path on a surface of a specific object; a position detection section that detects a position of the moving body as an abnormality occurrence position, in a case in which the abnormality detection section has detected an abnormality, and that stores abnormality occurrence position information expressing the abnormality occurrence position in a storage section; and a moving body controller that controls an adjusting section to adjust at least one of a force with which the moving body presses against the specific object, or a position of the moving body in a direction intersecting the surface of the specific object, based on a detection result detected by the abnormality detection section and the abnormality occurrence position information.

The invention proposes a drive device (10) for driving a windscreen wiper, which comprises a bearing body (12), a drive shaft (20) which is mounted to rotate with respect to the bearing body (12), a guide housing (19) for guiding the drive shaft (20) in rotation about its axis (A1) which is pivot-mounted with respect to the bearing body (12) about an axis (A2) which is orthogonal to the axis (A1) of the drive shaft (20), a drive motor (16) for driving the shaft (20), a rack (30) and pinion (28) mechanism which causes the shaft (20) to pivot in order to vary the inclination of the axis (A1) of the shaft (20) with respect to the bearing body (12) according to the angular position of the drive shaft (20), characterized in that the drive motor (16) is supported by the guide housing (19).

The invention proposes a drive device (10) for driving a windscreen wiper, which comprises a bearing body (12), a drive shaft (20) which is mounted to rotate with respect to the bearing body (12), a guide housing (19) for guiding the drive shaft (20) in rotation about its axis (A1) which is pivot-mounted with respect to the bearing body (12) about an axis (A2) which is orthogonal to the axis (A1) of the drive shaft (20), a drive motor (16) for driving the shaft (20), a rack (30) and pinion (28) mechanism which causes the shaft (20) to pivot in order to vary the inclination of the axis (A1) of the shaft (20) with respect to the bearing body (12) according to the angular position of the drive shaft (20), characterized in that the drive motor (16) is supported by the guide housing (19).