Interior rearview mirror system including a forward facing video device
First Claim
1. A vehicular rain sensor which senses precipitation at a vehicle window, said vehicular sensor comprising:
- an imaging array sensor directed at the vehicle window from inside the vehicle, said imaging array sensor detecting precipitation at the window; and
a control which is responsive to said imaging array sensor detecting precipitation at the window, said control including a filtering process reducing effects of window irregularities.
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Abstract
A vehicular rain sensor system for detecting precipitation on an exterior surface of a window including a illumination sensor that is decoupled from the window. The illumination sensor is preferably an imaging array sensor which communicates a signal to a control which further determines whether rain is present on the window. The control preferably includes an edge detection function for detecting edges of precipitation droplets on the window and activating the windshield wipers of the vehicle when the number of edges detected exceeds a predetermined threshold value. A smoothing algorithm or filter is provided to account for surface irregularities on the window, thereby substantially precluding such irregularities from being erroneously detected as rain droplets by the edge detection function. The rain sensor system may further include a polarizing filter and an illumination source, such that the rain sensor system may not only prevent false signals of rain when only fog is present on an interior surface of the window, but also allows the rain sensor system to actually detect fog particles on an interior surface of the window, thereby allowing the control to further be connected to a ventilation blower within the vehicle for the purpose of activating the blower to eliminate the fog.
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Citations
102 Claims
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1. A vehicular rain sensor which senses precipitation at a vehicle window, said vehicular sensor comprising:
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an imaging array sensor directed at the vehicle window from inside the vehicle, said imaging array sensor detecting precipitation at the window; and
a control which is responsive to said imaging array sensor detecting precipitation at the window, said control including a filtering process reducing effects of window irregularities. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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54. A vehicular rain sensor which senses precipitation at a vehicle window, comprising:
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at least one illumination source and at least one illumination sensor defining at least one optical path from said at least one illumination source to the window and from the window to said at least one illumination sensor; and
a control which processes an electrical characteristic of said at least one illumination sensor to detect precipitation at the window, said control including a light sensing function and said control activating said at least one illumination source in low light conditions and processing said electrical characteristic using a filtering process when said at least one illumination source is activated. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86)
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87. A vehicular sensor adaptable to receive an image through a vehicle window, said sensor comprising:
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an imaging sensor directed at the vehicle window from inside the vehicle, said imaging sensor capturing an image; and
a control which processes an output of said imaging sensor to produce image data of the image captured by said imaging sensor, said control including a filtering process in order to reduce effects of vehicle window irregularities on the image data. - View Dependent Claims (88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102)
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Specification