Moisture sensor and windshield fog detector

A method of detecting moisture on a surface, using a system including an image sensor, an optical system operative to focus at least a portion of the surface onto the image sensor, a wiping system operative to remove moisture from at least a portion of the surface imaged, and a processing system in communication with the image sensor, the method comprising the steps of:

• detecting an actuation signal for the wiping system;
• analyzing an image from the image sensor responsive to generation of the actuation signal;
• and
• generating an initial reference measurement of the spatial composition on the surface responsive to the analysis of the image.

A system for detecting moisture on a surface comprising:

• an image sensor;
• an optical system operative to image at least a portion of the surface onto the image sensor;
• and
• a processing system in communication with the image sensor and operative to analyze images from the image sensor to detect moisture, wherein the sensitivity of the image sensor during high ambient light conditions is reduced and the sensitivity of the image sensor during low ambient light conditions is increased whereby the image sensor has a variable sensitivity which is lower during high ambient light conditions.

A system for detecting moisture on a surface comprising:

• an image sensor;
• an optical system operative to image at least a portion of the surface onto the image sensor;
• and
• a processing system in communication with the image sensor, the processing system operative to analyze images from the image sensor to detect moisture on at least a portion of the surface imaged, the processing system further operative to distinguish long term spatial components on the surface imaged.

A system for detecting moisture on a surface comprising:

• an array image sensor including a plurality of pixels;
• an optical system operative to image a portion of the surface onto the array image sensor;
• and
• a processing system in communication with the array image sensor operative to analyze images from the array image sensor to detect moisture, wherein the processing system ignores pixels in the array image sensor having a gray scale value above a threshold.

A system for detecting moisture on a surface comprising:

• an image sensor including a plurality of pixels;
• an optical system operative to image a portion of the surface onto the image sensor;
• and
• a processing system in communication with the image sensor operative to analyze images from the image sensor to detect moisture, wherein the processing system analyses a sub window of the image sensor more frequently than other portions of the image sensor in order to monitor a condition.

A system for detecting moisture on a surface, comprising

• a low resolution image array sensor;
• an optical system operable to image a portion of the surface onto the image sensor, to focus objects at the surface onto the image sensor, and to blur objects away from the surface;
• and
• a processor in communication with the image sensor, the processor operative to detect the edges of moisture whereby a signal may be generated based on the edges detected.

A system for detecting moisture on a surface comprising:

• an image sensor;
• an optical system operative to image a portion of the surface onto the image sensor;
• a wiper;
• and
• a processing system in communication with the image sensor and the wiper, the processing system selectively responsive to the image sensor for actuating the wiper and detecting whether the wiper has moved over at least a portion of the surface, the processing system outputting a control signal if the wiper does not move over the at least a portion of the surface within a certain time period following actuation of the wiper.