System for detecting obscurants on a vehicle lamp

A system for detecting obscurants on an outer surface of a lens of a vehicle lamp of a vehicle, the system comprising:

• a support;
• an infrared (IR) light emitter-detector module coupled to the support, the IR light emitter-detector module including:
• an IR light emitter configured to emit IR light towards an inner surface of the lens;
• and
• an IR light detector configured to measure an intensity of IR light reflected by the obscurants;
• a controller coupled to the IR light emitter-detector module, the controller configured to:
• control the IR light emitter-detector module;
• determine a level of light obstruction based on the measured intensity of reflected IR light;
• and
• when the level of light obstruction meets predefined criteria, issue a warning;
• and
• a total internal reflection (TIR) module coupled to the support, the TIR module including:
• a visible light emitter configured to emit visible light through an interior of the lens at a first end of the lens, and
• a visible light detector configured to measure the visible light emitted through the interior of the lens at a second end of the lens,
• wherein the controller is configured to determine the level of light obstruction based further on the visible light measured at the second end of the lens.