Systems and methods for wiper control based on driver gaze detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025269821-A1
Application number	US-202418586754-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 26, 2024
Priority date	Feb 26, 2024
Publication date	Aug 28, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

A vehicle including a glazing, a wiper, a detection unit and a processor is disclosed. The detection unit may be configured to capture images of a vehicle interior portion and a vehicle surrounding. The processor may be configured to determine a precipitation intensity and that the vehicle may be in a stationary state. The processor may further determine that a user located in the vehicle interior portion may be looking out of the vehicle through the glazing based on inputs obtained from the detection unit, responsive to determining that the vehicle may be in the stationary state. The processor may further cause a wiper movement at a speed associated with the precipitation intensity, when the user may be looking out of the vehicle through the glazing.

First claim

That which is claimed is:

1 . A vehicle comprising:
a glazing; a wiper configured to clean the glazing; a detection unit configured to capture images of a vehicle interior portion and a vehicle surrounding; and a processor communicatively coupled with the detection unit and the wiper, wherein the processor is configured to:
determine a precipitation intensity;
determine that the vehicle is in a stationary state;
determine that a user located in the vehicle interior portion is looking out of the vehicle through the glazing based on inputs obtained from the detection unit, responsive to determining that the vehicle is in the stationary state; and
cause a wiper movement at a speed associated with the precipitation intensity, when the user is looking out of the vehicle through the glazing.

2 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine that a vehicle speed is less than a predefined speed threshold; obtain a vehicle surrounding image from the detection unit responsive to determining that the vehicle speed is less than the predefined speed threshold; perform image processing to determine a blur level associated with the vehicle surrounding image; and determine that the vehicle is in the stationary state when the blur level is less than a predefined blur threshold.

3 . The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the wiper movement at the speed associated with the precipitation intensity when the vehicle speed is greater than the predefined speed threshold.

4 . The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the wiper movement at the speed associated with the precipitation intensity when the blur level is greater than the predefined blur threshold.

5 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine that the vehicle is in the stationary state when a vehicle transmission is in a park state.

6 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to disable the wiper movement when the user is looking away from the glazing and the vehicle is in the stationary state.

7 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine an object presence in a predefined zone in proximity to the vehicle based on the inputs obtained from the detection unit, responsive to determining that the user is looking out of the vehicle through the glazing; and disable the wiper movement responsive to determining the object presence in the predefined zone.

8 . The vehicle of claim 7 , wherein the processor causes the wiper movement at the speed associated with the precipitation intensity when the object presence is not detected in the predefined zone.

9 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine that a predefined condition is met based on a vehicle surrounding image obtained from the detection unit, responsive to determining that the vehicle is in the stationary state; and cause the wiper movement at the speed associated with the precipitation intensity when the predefined condition is met.

10 . The vehicle of claim 9 , wherein the predefined condition is met when a road condition is suboptimal or an object is present in proximity to a vehicle front portion.

11 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the detection unit comprises one or more of a vehicle interior camera, a vehicle exterior camera, a radio detection and ranging (radar) sensor and a light detection and ranging (lidar) sensor.

12 . The vehicle of claim 1 further comprising at least one of a rain sensor or a capacitive moisture sensor, wherein the processor determines the precipitation intensity based on inputs obtained from the rain sensor or the capacitive moisture sensor.

13 . A method to facilitate auto-wiping in a vehicle, the method comprising:
determining, by a processor, a precipitation intensity; determining, by the processor, that the vehicle is in a stationary state; determining, by the processor, that a user located in a vehicle interior portion is looking out of the vehicle through a glazing based on inputs obtained from a detection unit, responsive to determining that the vehicle is in the stationary state; and causing, by the processor, a wiper movement at a speed associated with the precipitation intensity, when the user is looking out of the vehicle through the glazing.

14 . The method of claim 13 further comprising:
determining that a vehicle speed is less than a predefined speed threshold;
obtaining a vehicle surrounding image from the detection unit responsive to determining that the vehicle speed is less than the predefined speed threshold;
performing image processing to determine a blur level associated with the vehicle surrounding image; and
determining that the vehicle is in the stationary state when the blur level is less than a predefined blur threshold.

15 . The method of claim 14 further comprising causing the wiper movement at the speed associated with the precipitation intensity when the vehicle speed is greater than the predefined speed threshold.

16 . The method of claim 14 further comprising causing the wiper movement at the speed associated with the precipitation intensity when the blur level is greater than the predefined blur threshold.

17 . The method of claim 13 further comprising disabling the wiper movement when the user is looking away from the glazing and the vehicle is in the stationary state.

18 . The method of claim 13 further comprising:
determining an object presence in a predefined zone in proximity to the vehicle based on the inputs obtained from the detection unit, responsive to determining that the user is looking out of the vehicle through the glazing; and
disabling the wiper movement responsive to determining the object presence in the predefined zone.

19 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the detection unit comprises one or more of a vehicle interior camera, a vehicle exterior camera, a radio detection and ranging (radar) sensor and a light detection and ranging (lidar) sensor.

20 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
determine a precipitation intensity; determine that a vehicle is in a stationary state; determine that a user located in a vehicle interior portion is looking out of the vehicle through a glazing based on inputs obtained from a detection unit, responsive to determining that the vehicle is in the stationary state; and cause a wiper movement at a speed associated with the precipitation intensity, when the user is looking out of the vehicle through the glazing.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Schroeter Robert
• Ghannam Mahmoud Yousef
• Van Wiemeersch John Robert
• Mills Aaron L

Classifications

• B60S1/0862

  including additional sensors (vehicle speed sensors B60S1/0896) · CPC title

• B60S1/0844 Primary

  including a camera · CPC title

• B60S1/0896

  including control systems responsive to a vehicle driving condition, e.g. speed · CPC title

• B60S1/0818 Primary

  including control systems responsive to external conditions, e.g. by detection of moisture, dirt or the like · CPC title

• B60S1/08

  electrically driven {(conjoint control of windscreen wiper motor and liquid supply of windscreen washer B60S1/482; conjoint control of windscreen wiper motor and means for cleaning parts o parts other than windscreens or front windows B60S1/56, B60S1/58, B60S1/606)} · CPC title