Autowipers improved?

[cobra]

Has anyone else tried the auto wipers and found them improved? Since jumping a couple versions of software recently, I found myself in rain in our X and turned them on during a drive in medium rain. They started wildly running fast to clear the windshield and then settled down and worked quite well. Almost like a minute or two of calibration. I had the wiper stalk in off, turned on the wiper beta in the main screen, then clicked the first position for slow intermittent wipers on the stalk. Wild wiping for a dozen back-and-forths. Windshield got clear enough to see well. Rain was moderate for a while so they ran fairly often. Rain slowed, they slowed. Rain stopped they stopped. That was on Tuesday, I think, and I left them on since. (Which is a testament that they are much improved. I didn't tolerate them for more than about 2 rainstorms when I tried them months ago when we got the car.

It has rained about three times since and they start when rain starts, run intermittent as needed, and turn off when window is clear. I've only had about three times where the window got partial drips or splash and I pushed the button to get an extra wipe. Absolutely no incident of wild fast wiping since first turn on either.

Anyone else notice this? We just got updated to 2021.24.3, so maybe there are unmentioned improvements? I didn't notice any change log mention of this. I believe our car is vision only, as I think this build date is prior to the rain sensor.

 

[jmaddr]

turned on the wiper beta in the main screen

Beta? Is this unique to the X? Is it available in the 3/Y? Auto-wipers is pretty much unusable. 2021.12.25.7

 

[cobra]

Beta? Is this unique to the X? Is it available in the 3/Y? Auto-wipers is pretty much unusable. 2021.12.25.7

Don't know, I thought all versions of the Autowipers feature were labeled Beta? Or is that not the case for newer vehicles with a rain sensor in addition to vision?

The poor usability was why I posted after several days of good behavior from the auto wipers.

 

[Martin Milne]

They seem to be getting better with updates. I asked late last year and they said it was a firmware issue.

 

[DCGOO]

Has anyone else tried the auto wipers and found them improved? Since jumping a couple versions of software recently, I found myself in rain in our X and turned them on during a drive in medium rain. They started wildly running fast to clear the windshield and then settled down and worked quite well. Almost like a minute or two of calibration. I had the wiper stalk in off, turned on the wiper beta in the main screen, then clicked the first position for slow intermittent wipers on the stalk. Wild wiping for a dozen back-and-forths. Windshield got clear enough to see well. Rain was moderate for a while so they ran fairly often. Rain slowed, they slowed. Rain stopped they stopped. That was on Tuesday, I think, and I left them on since. (Which is a testament that they are much improved. I didn't tolerate them for more than about 2 rainstorms when I tried them months ago when we got the car.

It has rained about three times since and they start when rain starts, run intermittent as needed, and turn off when window is clear. I've only had about three times where the window got partial drips or splash and I pushed the button to get an extra wipe. Absolutely no incident of wild fast wiping since first turn on either.

Anyone else notice this? We just got updated to 2021.24.3, so maybe there are unmentioned improvements? I didn't notice any change log mention of this. I believe our car is vision only, as I think this build date is prior to the rain sensor.

Auto-wipers is not a new feature. I even had it on my 2015 S. Always have worked just fine for me.

 

[dduffey]

Yes they got better but not sure when. Yesterday I took 2021.24.3 through a car wash (not w car wash mode) and forgot to turn off the wipers.

Half way through I realized and the wipers never came on, mind blown.

I suspect they are already detecting car washes and in the future will popup a clippy stating "It looks like you are entering a car wash, would you like to enable car wash mode?"

 

[neo1738]

Probably a safety feature to prevent damage.

 

[DCGOO]

Yes they got better but not sure when. Yesterday I took 2021.24.3 through a car wash (not w car wash mode) and forgot to turn off the wipers.

Half way through I realized and the wipers never came on, mind blown.

I suspect they are already detecting car washes and in the future will popup a clippy stating "It looks like you are entering a car wash, would you like to enable car wash mode?"

I would venture something simpler. Like maybe not activating the wipers when the car is in Neutral. I know when I am parked at home, in the rain, the wipers do not come on until I place the car into Drive.

 

[focher]

They've worked fine for me for quite awhile. That's the challenge of jumping to using a neural net to detect rain. It sucks at first, but then it improves rapidly and keeps improving.

 

[djillusion]

i want to like / use them - but never find the proper balance. they usually are always too aggressive to my liking. i also use rain x windshield cleaner when i wash the X, so i don't really get a ton of water sitting on the windshield to have the auto wipers stay aggressive.

 

[focher]

The way it should work is that the front facing camera "sees" water droplets on the glass, and the system reacts based on what it thinks it sees. Over time, those images of water droplets are being used to train the neural net to detect and react to water droplets appropriately. I suspect - but have no way of knowing - that any manual interventions from drivers to the speed and reaction of the system are also used to fine tune the training.

 

[cobra]

The way it should work is that the front facing camera "sees" water droplets on the glass, and the system reacts based on what it thinks it sees. Over time, those images of water droplets are being used to train the neural net to detect and react to water droplets appropriately. I suspect - but have no way of knowing - that any manual interventions from drivers to the speed and reaction of the system are also used to fine tune the training.

Maybe… although I thought the training was all done prior to software release and then the usage did not update the behavior.
Anyway, it misbehaved some today and over the weekend in the rain, so not great all the time. But not bad enough that I turned it off yet! So annoying, but settled down again.

 

[focher]

Maybe… although I thought the training was all done prior to software release and then the usage did not update the behavior.
Anyway, it misbehaved some today and over the weekend in the rain, so not great all the time. But not bad enough that I turned it off yet! So annoying, but settled down again.

Yes, each version of the neural net is contained in the software updates but has been additionally trained over time. Each update may contain additional neural net training. Just like AutoPilot.

 

[Kerry Blue]

i want to like / use them - but never find the proper balance. they usually are always too aggressive to my liking. i also use rain x windshield cleaner when i wash the X, so i don't really get a ton of water sitting on the windshield to have the auto wipers stay aggressive.

Rain X messes up most auto wiper systems as it alters droplet size and confuses the system. Cleaning the windshield area over the camera with denatured alcohol and avoiding Rain X, waxes etc on that part of the glass often improves the performance significantly.

 

[djillusion]

Rain X messes up most auto wiper systems as it alters droplet size and confuses the system. Cleaning the windshield area over the camera with denatured alcohol and avoiding Rain X, waxes etc on that part of the glass often improves the performance significantly.

thanks, i will give this a try.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

My Auto-Wipers disappeared! Did anyone else's disappear? I no longer have in as an option to turn on now. Disappeared with the last couple of S/W releases is my guess (it has been a very dry summer).
(This is a Signature (2012) MS)

 

[Genie]

My Auto-Wipers disappeared! Did anyone else's disappear? I no longer have in as an option to turn on now. Disappeared with the last couple of S/W releases is my guess (it has been a very dry summer).
(This is a Signature (2012) MS)

Mine aren’t right either lately, but we’ve had so little rain it hasn’t been a big deal. With the change in season coming it’s going to be a big deal soon though.

 

[puhiniho]

Personally I haven't seen much improvement to auto wipers. It's frustrating when I open the driver's door, then sit down then the wiper decides to sweep really quickly and the inside door gets all wet. Otherwise manual or always on till I see a marked improvement.

 

[TXExpress]

Also deactivated the autowipers on my X as they either work too slow or way too fast. Maybe the original poster is right and I need to let it learn/calibrate and remove the RainX. Will try.

 

[DCGOO]

Personally I haven't seen much improvement to auto wipers. It's frustrating when I open the driver's door, then sit down then the wiper decides to sweep really quickly and the inside door gets all wet. Otherwise manual or always on till I see a marked improvement.

On my X, the wipers will not start until the car is placed in drive or reverse. No wipers in Park or Neutral. Could you be bumping the manual button on the end of the stick when getting in?