This disclosure details vehicle windshield wiper systems and methods for controlling windshield wipers in a manner that reduces the buildup of frozen precipitation on the vehicle windshield. In exemplary embodiments, a windshield wiper can be automatically commanded to wipe a windshield at a pre-calculated wiping interval rate when precipitation is detected on a vehicle surface, a vehicle ambient temperature is below a predefined ambient temperature threshold, and a vehicle interior temperature exceeds a predefined interior temperature threshold.

A vehicle and/or a method for detecting contaminants on an optical surface are provided. The vehicle includes at least one light source adjacent the optical surface and at least one light detector at an edge of the optical surface. A controller is configured to introduce light from at least one light source into the optical surface, and to measure light at the edge of the optical surface with at least one detector. The controller compares the measured light to a threshold, and, if the measured light crosses the threshold, triggers or implements a response action.

An electromagnetic wiper system for a windshield of a vehicle includes a linear actuator, a wiper-arrangement, and control circuitry. The linear actuator includes at least one guide rail having permanent magnets and an electromagnetic moving block. The electromagnetic moving block includes at least one perforation that surrounds the at least one guide rail and at least one electromagnetic coil that surrounds the at least one perforation. The wiper-arrangement includes a wiper arm and a wiper blade, wherein at least the wiper arm is coupled to the electromagnetic moving block. The control circuitry controls a linear motion of the electromagnetic moving block along the at least one guide rail to steer the wiper arm that is coupled to the electromagnetic moving block back and forth across a length of the windshield to the windshield, wherein the electromagnetic moving block induces minimal friction during the linear motion.

A cleaning target provided to a vehicle is automatically cleaned in an appropriate manner. A vehicle cleaning system includes a cleaning section configured to clean a cleaning target provided to a vehicle, and a control section configured to control cleaning of the cleaning target by the cleaning section according to at least one out of a travel situation of the vehicle, an environmental situation of the vehicle, or an indicator relating to adhesion of adhered material to the cleaning target of the vehicle.

A method of controlling a heating element in thermal communication with a rear window of a vehicle comprises: with a vehicle being in an external environment and comprising a rear window and a heating element in thermal communication with the rear window, a controller in communication with the heating element, the controller including a Pre-established Predictive Activation Model setting forth rules governing activation of the heating element as a function of data relating to Certain Identifiable Conditions, and a user interface configured to allow the heating element to be manually activated or deactivated; collecting data relating to the Certain Identifiable Conditions; determining, by comparing the collected data to the rules of the Pre-established Predictive Activation Model, whether the collected data satisfies the rules of the Pre-established Predictive Activation Model so as to initially automatically activate the heating element; and automatically activating the heating element.

A wiper device including a wiper motor that includes a rotor and a coil to generate a rotating magnetic field, and that causes a wiper blade to perform a wiping operation by rotating the rotor according to the rotating magnetic field, a drive section that drives rotation of the wiper motor by performing current switch-on in the coil so as to generate the rotating magnetic field, and a controller that controls the drive section by a timing for current switch-on in the coil based on at least a rotation position of the rotor.

This disclosure relates to techniques for implementing a windshield wiper system with an actively movable platform. The windshield wiper system can include a windshield wiper arm mechanically coupled to a platform and an actuator mechanically coupled to the platform. The windshield wiper arm can be configured to move through a planar range of motion that is substantially parallel to a surface of a vehicle when the platform is positioned at a first spatial location and the movable windshield wiper arm can be configured constrained from moving through the planar range when the platform is positioned at a second spatial location.

A windshield-wiper system includes a precipitation-detector, a windshield-wiper actuator, an object-detector, and a controller. The precipitation-detector detects precipitation proximate to a host-vehicle. The windshield-wiper actuator clears the precipitation from a windshield of the host-vehicle. The object-detector detects a distance of an object to the host-vehicle. The controller is in communication with the precipitation-detector, the windshield-wiper actuator, and the object-detector. The controller determines when the precipitation is present based on the precipitation-detector, determines the distance from the object to the host-vehicle based on the object-detector, and adjusts a speed of the windshield-wiper actuator when the precipitation is detected and the object is less than a distance-threshold away from the host-vehicle.

A vehicle wiper device is provided including a first motor that swings a wiper arm such that a wiper blade coupled to a leading end portion of the wiper arm wipes a windshield, a second motor that extends or retracts an extension and retraction mechanism provided to the wiper arm in order to change a wiping range of the wiper blade, and a controller that controls rotation of the first motor such that the first motor rotates at a rotation speed corresponding to a wiping speed, and that controls rotation of the second motor so as to extend or retract the extension and retraction mechanism by an extension or retraction amount corresponding to the wiping speed during a wiping operation.

A wiper control device that properly detects restriction of a wiper blade according to a travel distance of the wiper blade. When a state in which a rotation speed of an output shaft calculated from a rotation angle of the output shaft detected by a rotation angle sensor is equal to or slower than a speed threshold defined according to a travel distance of the wiper blade and in which a current detected by a current detector is equal to or larger than a current threshold continues for a predetermined determination period, a microcomputer stops a wiper motor or reverses a direction of a wiping action of the wiper blade.