Patent ID: 6768422
Filing Date: 2004-07-27
Classification: B60H,B60N,B60R,B60S,G06K,Y10S

Abstract:
A vehicular precipitation sensor which senses precipitation consisting of at least one of rain and fog on a vehicle window, said vehicular precipitation sensor comprising:an imaging array sensor directed at the vehicle window from inside the vehicle, said imaging array sensor comprising a plurality of pixels, said pixels sensing a light value of incident radiation, said imaging array sensor comprising one of a CMOS and a CCD sensor. said imaging array sensor being responsive at least to incident visible light, said imaging array sensor capturing images of precipitation on the window, said imaging array sensor generating an output indicative of said captured images; and a control operable to process said output to detect precipitation at a surface of the vehicle window in response to said output of said imaging array sensor, said control controlling an accessory of the vehicle in response to the precipitation detected reaching a threshold level of detected precipitation, said threshold level of detected precipitation being adjustable in response to at least a level of ambient visible light present at the window.