^Automakers have this figured out already with their windscreen-integrated camera arrays by putting them in the pathway of the wiper arm so they get cleaned. The few times I parked my E550 outside and it snowed on it, the camera system would report it was inoperable until I cleaned the snow off the windshield and it reset itself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fuzz
Lidar is the best at it, as it can see through precipitation. But it is more expensive. It also doesn't really solve all the unpredictability of winter driving.
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Lidar can only see through precipitation until road spray as a result of said precipitation covers the sensors with dirt and reduces the light transmission of the -- now dirty -- lenses.
I had to clean the heads on the Blinder lidar system in my old Jeep before every drive to keep the system functional.
A combination of both cameras and radar or lidar is probably the best approach.
As for winter driving conditions and autonomous cars, it should actually be easier because the computer is in control of ALL the inputs from steering to acceleration to braking. Whereas currently, the car needs to constantly figure out what the hell to do and take into account the fact that some organic squidgy thing behind the wheel is panicking and f--king up.