Navigation | ||
My WhyNot? | ||
Icon Key | ||||||||||||
The community's level of support for this idea is...
| ||||||||||||
Smart Convertible stays dry | |||||||||||||||||
Right now, some cars have rain-sensing automatic windshield wipers. Sensors are able to detect when it is raining, and that switches on the wipers. We could use the same sensor to tell the open convertible to close, or do something else to keep the car dry, such as open a car-umbrella. I think it wouldn't be that hard for a convertible to slowly close itself and do stop if it hits resistance (as a safety feature).
caj27, Jul 04 2005
What do you think of this idea or comment?
| |||||||||||||||||
I agree
No opinion
I disagreeUsers who liked this idea also liked: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Add your comment
Is this just for when the car is parked? It seems that this could cause problems if it were activated while the car was in use (moving). How would it sense rain? Would it have some sort of barometer, or would it detect the actual precipitation? To detect precipitation, it could be good to have some sort of wicking material (like cotton) that would transfer the water to the sensor.
TRW Inc. uses optical sensors to detect the moisture. The sensor is mounted in contact with the inside of the windshield, near the rearview mirror.
The sensor projects infrared light into the windshield at a 45-degree angle. If the glass is dry, most of this light is reflected back into the sensor by the front of the windshield. If water droplets are on the glass, they reflect the light in different directions -- the wetter the glass, the less light makes it back into the sensor.
The electronics and software in the sensor turn on the wipers when the amount of light reflected onto the sensor decreases to a preset level. The software sets the speed of the wipers based on how fast the moisture builds up between wipes. It can operate the wipers at any speed. The system adjusts the speed as often as necessary to match with the rate of moisture accumulation.
I think this would actually be a great idea for non-convertibles also, for the windows. If you walk off and your window is down, and it starts raining, it sure would be nice to have the car detect the window position and roll themselves up.This would work just on cars that are not moving.
The same kind of technology could be used to automatically "open" everything electronic on a car if it should be submerged. There are quite a few cars now with automatic door locks and windows, and if the electrical system is fried in one of these cars, you're basically trapped inside.
That does sound like a good safety feature. I wonder, though, if when the electrical system gets friend, wouldn't that also short out the system that makes everything open?
You can use my smoke detector, it senses the moisture whenever I take a shower and makes a hellacious racket if I forget to disable it.
I would question the value of a smoke detector that detects things other than smoke.