Moisture sensor and windshield fog detector

Details Moisture sensor and windshield fog detector Moisture sensor and windshield fog detector

2005-09-20

2005-09-20

Allen, Stephone B. (Department: 2878)

Radiant energy

Photocells; circuits and apparatus

Photocell controlled circuit

C250S227250, C015SDIG015, C318S444000, C318SDIG002

Reexamination Certificate

active

06946639

ABSTRACT:
A control system is disclosed for automatically detecting moisture on the windshield of a vehicle. The automatic moisture detecting system includes an optical system for imaging a portion of the windshield onto an image array sensor, such as a CMOS active pixel sensor. The voltage of each of the pixels which represents the illumination level is converted to a corresponding gray scale value by an analog digital converter. The spatial frequency composition of the gray scale values are analyzed to determine the amount of rain present in order to provide a control signal to control the operation of the windshield wipers of the vehicle as a function of the amount of moisture present. The system is also adapted to detect the level of fog both on the interior of the windshield as well as the exterior of the windshield.

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