A rain sensor is included in a vehicle, and a method for controlling the vehicle utilizes the rain sensor. The rain sensor includes a light transmitter configured to radiate light to a windshield of the vehicle; a light receiver configured to receive light reflected from the windshield to generate a reception light signal; a filter configured to filter out noise from the reception light signal; and a controller configured to determine a presence or absence of pollutant and a degree of pollution on the basis of the filtered reception light signal, and perform pollutant removing.

A mounting bracket is fastened to a roof header panel. The mounting bracket has an extending portion extended to a position facing a windshield. A rain sensor is engaged with the extending portion so that the rain sensor can move back and forth with respect to the windshield. A coil spring is interposed between the extending portion and the rain sensor, and a light emitting/receiving surface of the rain sensor is pushed toward the inner surface of the windshield through a silicone sheet by a biasing force from the coil spring. Since there is no need to use adhesion as a means of supporting the rain sensor, there is no need to control or inspect the quality of the adhesion.

A method for calibrating a rain sensor (3), the rain sensor (3) being configured to measure a quantity of rain on a window (101) of a vehicle (100), the rain sensor (3) including a transmitter (4) and a receiver (5), the transmitter (4) being configured to emit or transmit light to the window (101) and the receiver (5) being configured to receive measurement light that is emitted or transmitted by the transmitter (4) and guided to the receiver (5) by the window (101); the method comprising: varying (S1) an incidence angle (?) of the light emitted or transmitted by the transmitter (4) to the window (101).

Systems and methods associated with an electric vehicle are provided. The electric vehicle includes a sensor system, a communications system and a snow clearing system. The systems and methods detect, based on data from the sensor system, snow that may accumulate on a window of the electric vehicle. When snow is detected, a notification is provided, via the communications system, to a remote user device. The notification requests user acceptance of use of charge of a battery of the electric vehicle to operate the snow clearing system of the electric vehicle. The systems and methods receive, by the communications system, a response to the notification from the user device, and when the response indicates acceptance of the use of charge of the battery, the snow clearing system is activated. The snow clearing system is powered by the battery.

A display device, particularly for an exterior mirror of a motor vehicle, comprising a display means that comprises a lighting means, characterized in that the display device comprises a moisture detection apparatus comprising a sensor device, the moisture detection apparatus being designed to at least partially detect light emitted by the display means and light reflected by moisture.

A product [11] includes a foldable clamshell-type housing [10] folded to a closed position to contain a pre-formed sensor pad [17] that was formed in situ therein when the housing [10] was in an open position, prior to closing. The housing [10] has an enclosed volume [12] bounded by relatively thin and flexible walls [23, 34], and outwardly extending tabs [18] which facilitate opening. This structure enables the user to easily open the housing [10] to remove the sensor pad [17], a cured silicone composition, by pushing inward on an outer surface of the outer wall [34] of a base section [15] of the housing [10]. This product [11] reduces the amount of manipulation needed to place the sensor pad [17] in a desired position, for example, during installation of a rain sensor system for a vehicle windshield.

In a lens plate (18) for an optical sensor device in a vehicle, in particular for a rain sensor, with a transmitter-side lens structure (26) and a receiver-side lens structure (32), the transmitter-side lens structure (26) partially is provided with anti-transmission features which in individual regions of the lens plate (18) partially or completely prevent the passage of the light emitted by a light transmitter (14).

A wiper system according to the present invention includes wiper blades (2a, 2b) that perform a reciprocating wiping operation on a windshield (3), and a raindrop sensor (9) that detects the current amount of rainfall based on water droplets adhering to the windshield (3). If rainfall more than or equal to a predetermined amount is detected by the raindrop sensor (9), a heavy rain mode in which a wiping range of the wiper blades (2a, 2b) is made narrower than in a normal wiping operation is carried out. In the heavy rain mode, the wiper blade (2a) arranged on the driver's side is activated at high speed (Hi) within a heavy rain time wiping area X set near the forward field of view of the driver to ensure the field of view of the driver.

A rain sensor of a vehicle and a control method thereof are provided to solve a problem that a measurement result of rainfall varies according to a glass specification of a windshield even under the same rainfall condition by tuning sensitivity of the rain sensor in accordance with the glass specification of the windshield. For this, a method of determining the glass specification of the rain sensor includes determining the glass specification of the windshield from a light-receiving signal obtained by receiving light reflected by the windshield of the vehicle, and eliminating a deviation between light-receiving signals by glass specification, which is caused by a difference in the glass specification, by applying parameter tuning according to a glass specification to the light-receiving signal.

The present invention relates to a total reflection type rain sensor using a mirror, which is attached to a glass of a vehicle to detect raindrops falling onto the glass of the vehicle and outputs a signal capable of controlling speed and cycle of a wiper of the vehicle according to the amount and falling frequency of raindrops detected.