Can Auto Wipers Learn?

[dusty22]

I was out driving my 22 M3 LR in a rain storm a couple of nights ago. I was mainly on back streets doing about 25 - 30 MPH, no Auto Pilot involvement. It was windy and the rain was steady when wipers came on. They were going too fast for my taste and after awhile I switched them to the lowest manual setting. About 10 minutes later, I decided to set them on auto again. This time they came on and the wiper speed was right where I like it. Wiper speed increased when the rain intensified but never went faster than I would have set it manually under the same conditions.

The wipers performed very well for the rest the trip. I'm not sure what to make of this; probably just some coincidence, but it almost seemed as if the wipers adjusted to my preferences. Is that possible?

 

[Manbutter]

I really hope that is the case.

Here in SoCal, the rain is inconsistent - often ranging from hard to barely there. For me, Auto is almost always too fast. Even the slowest manual setting is sometimes too fast. I never had this problem with my BMW before - there were enough speed steps to always find a comfortable setting.

I wish Tesla would update the firmware to a slider. I've never been able to get a speed that's maybe one wipe every 15 seconds. Slowest manual seems to be once every 5 seconds.

 

[heavyD]

No they do not learn in regards to driver preferences. Pure coincidence.

 

[freeAgent]

I don't believe there's any "learning" taking place with the automatic wipers. It's just inconsistent behavior. It seems that Tesla have given up trying to improve them, too, since I haven't seen any notable change (improvement) in their behavior since I got my car at the end of 2020. I think it's just a limitation of their vision-based wiper system and trying to save a buck by not putting in an IR sensor like every single other manufacturer users.

 

[Kevy Baby]

They were going too fast for my taste and after awhile I switched them to the lowest manual setting. About 10 minutes later, I decided to set them on auto again. This time they came on and the wiper speed was right where I like it.

Yeah, I've experienced this phenomenon as well (though not always). It is not a learning thing, but I wonder what does trigger the change.

 

[jabloomf1230]

Yeah, I've experienced this phenomenon as well (though not always). It is not a learning thing, but I wonder what does trigger the change.

I suppose that if the car samples frames from the front cams and caches them in order to calculate wiper rate, then behavior could appear inconsistent.

 

[Manbutter]

Tesla needs to really calibrate how it reads the amount of rain/dust that is on our windshield. It keeps coming on whenever I use autopilot even though (to me) the windshield looks clean. Note sure how Tesla expects these cameras to function as the sole autopilot sensor (no LIDAR) when I keep getting notices that my pillar cameras, front cameras, and rear are all obstructed.

 

[Robert A]

My auto wipers are terrible. They go to max speed when standing still in a drizzle, and then go intermittent when driving on the freeway in heavy rain. Sometimes they wipe, and do so repeatedly, in completely dry, sunny conditions. None of my last few non-Tesla cars acted this way. Did Elon try to save money by not paying for a patent?

 

[Resist]

Auto Wipers learn? lol. Sometimes it feels like Tesla doesn't learn.

 

[Ericft]

I too have experienced excessively fast wipers for minimal rain. very annoying..sensors don't seem to know how much it is raining. wish there was an update for the auto sense speed/level...end up having to put wipers on level one and then increase as needed.

 

[pipp]

My car errs on the side of conservative. Water builds up on the windshield until I have to force a wiper swipe with a quick-push on the end of the left stalk. Seems to me, software-wise that would be the easiest learning the car could perform: “Hey this guy has forced a wipe 10 times in the last 2 minutes, maybe I (auto-wiper) should be a little bit less conservative about starting the wipers up…”

 

[M00cow]

T

 

[brkaus]

Tesla needs to really calibrate how it reads the amount of rain/dust that is on our windshield. It keeps coming on whenever I use autopilot even though (to me) the windshield looks clean. Note sure how Tesla expects these cameras to function as the sole autopilot sensor (no LIDAR) when I keep getting notices that my pillar cameras, front cameras, and rear are all obstructed.

Pillar cameras obstructed I see frequently at night when I'm out in the country. I don't think they are obstructed as much as there is just not enough light to see anything.