Patent Document ID: 20050017666
Application ID: 10624041
Patent Flag: 0

Claim One:
1. A vehicle comprising: a vehicle glazing; at least one wiper blade for moving across said glazing to remove raindrops from said glazing; a controller operatively connected to said wiper blade for activating said wiper blade; a piezoelectric sensor mounted to said glazing that produces an analog signal proportional to vibrations caused by raindrops striking said glazing; an amplifier electrically connected to said piezoelectric sensor for increasing an amplitude of said analog signal; an analog-to-digital converter electrically connected to said amplifier for converting said analog signal into digital values; and a processor electrically connected to said analog-to-digital converter and said controller for computing a rain rate with said digital values in an equation derived from a point process equation and for providing said rain rate to said controller such that said controller automatically operates said wiper blade to remove raindrops based on said rain rate.