Hondaswap.com | Honda Technical & JDM styling Forums

|Chaz| · 03-03-2012, 11:36 AM

So I was searching around on the internet and found this neat little kit that fits nearly any car. A few wires and instant luxury car (or at least the automatic windshield wiper part). It comes with a three year warranty. It was $80 + Shipping/Tax. Ordered it on the 2-28, it arrived on 3-1, quite speedy. I've never had something be delivered that quickly.

Box showed up a little squished, but nothing was damaged inside.

Comes with everything needed for my install + some extra resistors for other applications. The Rain Tracker system can also be utilized as an auto on headlight sensor. It is slightly harder to wire up, I may attempt it eventually. There are a few extra things that are needed for that though.

I'll do my best to take pictures and detail the install once I begin.

eg6sir · 03-03-2012, 11:38 AM

broken pics

eg6sir · 03-03-2012, 11:40 AM

and, i know you're not stupid or lazy.. so why do you need something to run your wipers for you? thats just retarded.. kinda hard to forget to run the wipers when you cant see out the windshield.. lol

edit:
also love the pic on their site .. a woman swerving w/ rain all over her windshield.. lol

TurboMirage · 03-03-2012, 11:43 AM

one thing i really really like about the corolla. auto-on lamps. they are pretty much flawless.

|Chaz| · 03-03-2012, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eg6sir

and, i know you're not stupid or lazy.. so why do you need something to run your wipers for you? thats just retarded.. kinda hard to forget to run the wipers when you cant see out the windshield.. lol

edit:
also love the pic on their site .. a woman swerving w/ rain all over her windshield.. lol

Because it makes me feel a little bit better about driving around a 20 year old car with 200k miles

. I'll upload the pictures when I get home, it's a PITA here at work.

|Chaz| · 03-03-2012, 01:15 PM

Pics up.

GSRCRXsi · 03-03-2012, 02:13 PM

how does this work? how does the system know when its raining?

|Chaz| · 03-03-2012, 02:38 PM

Quote:

All optical rain sensors used in cars and trucks use the same underlying principle. They bounce beams of light through the windshield, and look for disturbances in the beams caused by raindrops. Typically, a rain sensor will have an emitter that emits pulses of light, coupled into the windshield with a lens.

A simplified diagram of the Rain Tracker.
The beams travel through the windshield at about 45 degrees. The beams are infrared and, and thus visible only to dogs. (We're kidding. Dogs can't see infrared, either.) The beams are totally internally reflected by the outside surface of the windshield, so they bounce back into the sensor. A detector picks up the beams and measures them.
If rain drops are present on the outside surface of the windshield, some of the beams escape. This reduces the intensity of the beams. The detector senses this, and circuitry measures the reduction in intensity and figures out that it must be raining. The rest of the control system then runs the wipers.

It's Not Really That Simple

That's the idea in theory. To make a real rain sensor that works really well is complicated. The first problem is ambient light from the sun. The sun is hitting the windshield at about a thousand watts of intensity per square meter. The emitters are putting out a few thousandths of a watt. How does the detector know the difference between the light from the emitter and the light from the sun?
To start with, the Rain Tracker picks out only the color of light that is used by the emitters. That is, it uses optical filtering. That's a start (the easy part, actually), but the energy from the sun is broadband, and will have plenty of energy at whatever detector color you choose, including infrared. And to make matters worse, some very smart people at the windshield companies are working diligently to make their products pass as little infrared energy as possible. So, Rain Tracker uses clever circuit techniques that are able to tell the difference between the pulses from the emitter and sharp shadows cast by telephone poles.
Clever optics and clever circuits are still not enough. Sensing sub-millimeter drops in the harsh automotive environment is a truly formidable engineering problem. The Rain Tracker also uses Digital Signal Processing to be able to sense amazingly tiny drops (a fifth of a millimeter in diameter!) even in the presence of strong ambient light. Truly amazing is that the Rain Tracker can sense these drops even when deployed on high performance solar-absorbing glass-- when roughly 1% of the infrared energy makes its way through the round-trip of the windshield.
But it is not enough to just accurately sense rain. Where the system to simply "run the wipers when hit", the control would be subjectively erratic. If the control were to average out the hits over a long period of time, it would appear subjectively sluggish. The Rain Tracker control module uses a patented technique that is designed to mimic human perception, and actuate the wipers just as a driver would. The result is both smooth and responsive.

The Rain Tracker packs an amazing amount of technology into a tiny package. The sensor snaps into a coupler that bonds permanently to the windshield. Field service is greatly simplified: if the windshield should break, the sensor can be put on a new windshield with a new coupler. The simple, one-piece, single material design discourages the formation of air-bubbles.
The Rain Tracker sensor communicates with the vehicle wiper system using a simple three-wire interface, consisting of ground, digital signal, and power.

Here's how it works.

|Chaz| · 03-03-2012, 02:40 PM

Cool video

ls94civic · 03-03-2012, 04:19 PM

that's pure fucking lazy

awptickes · 03-03-2012, 04:25 PM

Or use Rain-X or Aquapel and never have to use windshield wipers.

|Chaz| · 03-03-2012, 04:34 PM

From what I gather, I'll have one of the only EG Civics with automatic wipers. Who cares if it's lazy. Of course it's unnecessary. I'm doing it because it'll be nice to have. Same reason why I will some day have heated seats in my car. Because I can.

awptickes · 03-03-2012, 04:36 PM

Heated seats are nice anywhere north of Arkansas. That's the one option I really wish was available for my car in the US.

|Chaz| · 03-03-2012, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by awptickes

Heated seats are nice anywhere north of Arkansas. That's the one option I really wish was available for my car in the US.

http://www.heatedseatkits.com/

From what I've heard, these guys are supposed to make a pretty decent kit. I was looking at getting some awhile ago but I have a big ole' tear in my drivers side gsr seat area that I need to get fixed or find someone willing to part with just a drivers side that has no rip. It's hard to find gsr "leather" seats in tan.

newb · 03-03-2012, 10:02 PM

So where do the sensors mount on the windshield?

I guess if your driving down the road it doesnt matter. Water will hit the windshield pretty evenly. Just curious.

As for it being lazy, in the area we live in it should be required standard equipment.

Jeef · 03-04-2012, 08:34 AM

The only good thing is it would give you more than 2 or 3 speeds for your wipers.

|Chaz| · 03-04-2012, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeef

The only good thing is it would give you more than 2 or 3 speeds for your wipers.

Yea, that will be nice. Typically most of my driving is done with my gf. One hand on the wheel the other on her leg or holding her hand. So yes, pure fucking laziness.

awptickes · 03-04-2012, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by |Chaz|

Yea, that will be nice. Typically most of my driving is done with my gf. One hand on the wheel the other on her leg or holding her hand. So yes, pure fucking laziness.

Maybe you need to:

1: grow up, she'll be there when you get out of the car.
2: learn how to drive with two hands. I doubt you can react quickly enough with only one hand.
3: realize that you might be putting other people in danger by being a selfish jackass. See 1, then see 2.

FYI, my girlfriend thinks you're a jackass for this as well.

EDIT: When posting this I didn't think about the fact that most of the people on this board don't have to put up with the same traffic I do on a daily basis.

|Chaz| · 03-05-2012, 03:56 PM

Typically I like you and your presence awptickes. Why are you being an asshole in this thread though?

J · 03-05-2012, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by |Chaz|

Typically I like you and your presence awptickes. Why are you being an asshole in this thread though?

Don't fret man, I follow similar suit. If riding alone I usually am driving from my lap(palms facing up at 4 and 8. Us washington drivers are way to leisurely to warrant it on the freeway casually jonting about on the weekends.

Now if I were to try that in seattle where I live, I'd probably hit ole granny trying to cross the road for no apparent reason.

ANd I love this idea of the luxury item because I am in a similar boat besides 20 years old or 200k. My car feels like a cheap piece of crap some days, even though its pretty damn reliable, just rattles.

awptickes · 03-05-2012, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by |Chaz|

Typically I like you and your presence awptickes. Why are you being an asshole in this thread though?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slammed89Integra

Don't fret man, I follow similar suit. If riding alone I usually am driving from my lap(palms facing up at 4 and 8. Us washington drivers are way to leisurely to warrant it on the freeway casually jonting about on the weekends.

Now if I were to try that in seattle where I live, I'd probably hit ole granny trying to cross the road for no apparent reason.

ANd I love this idea of the luxury item because I am in a similar boat besides 20 years old or 200k. My car feels like a cheap piece of crap some days, even though its pretty damn reliable, just rattles.

Good point slammed. I sometimes forget that not everyone has to put up with the National Capital Region traffic every day.

Chaz, sorry for busting on you. I often times forget that not everyone's highways look like day two of a 24 hours of lemons race year-round.

|Chaz| · 03-05-2012, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by awptickes

Good point slammed. I sometimes forget that not everyone has to put up with the National Capital Region traffic every day.

Chaz, sorry for busting on you. I often times forget that not everyone's highways look like day two of a 24 hours of lemons race year-round.

Hey it's all good, I know how to drive responsibly

. Bumper to bumper traffic or if it's raining or the conditions are so as to warrant my full attention then of course both of my hands are on the wheel. It just depends on the conditions.

|Chaz| · 03-05-2012, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newb

So where do the sensors mount on the windshield?

I guess if your driving down the road it doesnt matter. Water will hit the windshield pretty evenly. Just curious.

As for it being lazy, in the area we live in it should be required standard equipment.

Got it installed! I'll take pictures later. I was doing it out in the freezing ass 32 degree weather. It was fairly simple to install. It worked on the first try! A far cry from doing a motor swap. Get it all in there only to spend the next week chasing different cel's and other wiring related issues.

Its going to be awesome here in the Northwest. I do have rain x but it really only works well at highway speeds and doesn't help when we get those shitty little tiny drops of water that never seem to bead off the window. It seems like no matter what the wiper setting I choose is either too slow or too quick, so half the time I'm manual wiping.

I'll update back in a week and let you know how I feel after some real driving. So far all I've done is dump differing amounts of water on it. Seems to work well so far!

As of now id highly recommend this to anyone looking for a simple upgrade to their Civic.

newb · 03-05-2012, 10:44 PM

Lol, I know what you mean about the rain never matching a single wiper setting. I hate it.

When I put Rain X on my car it reminds me of the old Windows screen saver with all the stars goin by lol.

Id like to know how it holds up for you.

03-03-2012, 11:36 AM	#1
\|Chaz\| Posts: 5,180	Rain Tracker Install So I was searching around on the internet and found this neat little kit that fits nearly any car. A few wires and instant luxury car (or at least the automatic windshield wiper part). It comes with a three year warranty. It was $80 + Shipping/Tax. Ordered it on the 2-28, it arrived on 3-1, quite speedy. I've never had something be delivered that quickly. Box showed up a little squished, but nothing was damaged inside. Comes with everything needed for my install + some extra resistors for other applications. The Rain Tracker system can also be utilized as an auto on headlight sensor. It is slightly harder to wire up, I may attempt it eventually. There are a few extra things that are needed for that though. I'll do my best to take pictures and detail the install once I begin. __________________ XBL Gamertag = i1Chad1i & i (space here)Chaz(space here)i Last edited by \|Chaz\|; 03-03-2012 at 01:14 PM.

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03-03-2012, 11:40 AM	#3
eg6sir Posts: 21,073	and, i know you're not stupid or lazy.. so why do you need something to run your wipers for you? thats just retarded.. kinda hard to forget to run the wipers when you cant see out the windshield.. lol edit: also love the pic on their site .. a woman swerving w/ rain all over her windshield.. lol

03-03-2012, 11:43 AM	#4
TurboMirage Posts: 22,616	one thing i really really like about the corolla. auto-on lamps. they are pretty much flawless.

03-03-2012, 02:13 PM	#7
GSRCRXsi Posts: 8,355	how does this work? how does the system know when its raining?

03-03-2012, 04:19 PM	#10
ls94civic Posts: 256	that's pure fucking lazy

03-03-2012, 04:25 PM	#11
awptickes Posts: 7,752	Or use Rain-X or Aquapel and never have to use windshield wipers.

03-03-2012, 04:34 PM	#12
\|Chaz\| Posts: 5,180	From what I gather, I'll have one of the only EG Civics with automatic wipers. Who cares if it's lazy. Of course it's unnecessary. I'm doing it because it'll be nice to have. Same reason why I will some day have heated seats in my car. Because I can.

03-03-2012, 04:36 PM	#13
awptickes Posts: 7,752	Heated seats are nice anywhere north of Arkansas. That's the one option I really wish was available for my car in the US.

03-03-2012, 10:02 PM	#15
newb Posts: 3,660	So where do the sensors mount on the windshield? I guess if your driving down the road it doesnt matter. Water will hit the windshield pretty evenly. Just curious. As for it being lazy, in the area we live in it should be required standard equipment.

03-04-2012, 08:34 AM	#16
Jeef Posts: 5,971	The only good thing is it would give you more than 2 or 3 speeds for your wipers.

03-05-2012, 03:56 PM	#19
\|Chaz\| Posts: 5,180	Typically I like you and your presence awptickes. Why are you being an asshole in this thread though?

03-05-2012, 10:44 PM	#24
newb Posts: 3,660	Lol, I know what you mean about the rain never matching a single wiper setting. I hate it. When I put Rain X on my car it reminds me of the old Windows screen saver with all the stars goin by lol. Id like to know how it holds up for you.

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Rain Tracker Install