Rain sensor phantom wipe prevention

An assembly comprising:

• a vehicle comprising a cabin that forms an interior of the vehicle;
• a windshield configured to provide a barrier between an external environment of the vehicle and the cabin of the vehicle;
• a rain sensor, comprising:
• an emitter configured to project an incident beam that is reflected, as a reflected beam, by the windshield of the vehicle;
• a receiver configured to generate, based upon a received intensity of the reflected beam, a rain signal indicating a potential presence of rainwater on the windshield;
• a processor configured to:
• receive the rain signal, and
• perform a filtering operation on the rain signal to generate a filtered signal, and
• a printed circuit board (PCB) configured to interconnect the emitter, the receiver, and the processor,
• wherein the filtering operation comprises filtering noise from the rain signal such that the filtered signal has signal frequencies and related harmonics of the signal frequencies within a predetermined range of frequencies and with respective magnitudes and phases that are correlated with a definitive presence of the rainwater on the windshield;
• an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) configured to receive the filtered signal from the rain sensor, process the filtered signal, and transmit an operating command that includes a duration and a number of occurrences of a period of time to operate a windshield wiper;
• and
• a wiper motor controller configured to receive the operating command from the ECU, and actuate a wiper motor according to the operating command,
• wherein the wiper motor is fixed to the windshield wiper of the vehicle such that the windshield wiper actuates according to the operating command received by the wiper motor controller, and
• wherein the processor is further configured to calculate a Fourier transform of the received rain signal.

A method comprising:

• electronically interconnecting an emitter, a receiver, and a processor of a rain sensor;
• projecting an incident beam with the emitter;
• reflecting the incident beam, as a reflected beam, by a windshield of a vehicle;
• receiving the reflected beam with the receiver,
• generating a rain signal with the receiver, based upon a received intensity of the reflected beam, that indicates a potential presence of rainwater on the windshield;
• transmitting the rain signal from the receiver to the processor, and
• performing, with the processor, a filtering operation on the rain signal to generate a filtered signal such that the filtered signal has signal frequencies and related harmonics of the signal frequencies within a predetermined range of frequencies and with respective magnitudes and phases that are correlated with a definitive presence of the rainwater on the windshield, and
• calculating, with the processor, a Fourier transform of the received rain signal.